Chapter 500: Go to school and you can have enough food

"Our Hope Primary School must provide meals!"

The meeting room was completely silent, and everyone present looked at Lin Weimin with shock and confusion in their eyes.

Lin Weimin ignored the crowd's emotions and said to himself: "Many people just opposed us choosing the poorest area as the school from the beginning. One very important factor is that ordinary people cannot afford to send their children to school.

But what if you provide meals? Sending children to school not only allows them to learn knowledge, but also provides them with lunch.

Do you think that parents in poor areas would be willing to send their children to such schools? "

Lin Weimin looked around at everyone in the conference room, and everyone's eyes were thoughtful.

In a place where people can hardly get enough food, if the school provides meals, most parents would be willing to send their children to school, right? After all, it reduces the burden on the family!

A lunch for a child in a poor area can save a family at least 20 cents a day. If the child goes to school for 25 or 26 days a month, that is more than 5 yuan. With nearly nine months of school time a year, that is more than 40 yuan for food.

Isn’t this more than what the children earn by leaving them at home doing odd jobs?

But the problem is...

Everyone present silently calculated in their minds that the cost of food for a child a year is more than 40 yuan, and if the construction of Hope Primary School goes smoothly in the future, it will be a huge expense for the foundation.

"Teacher Lin, your idea is too idealistic. If the school provides lunch at noon, based on a primary school with 200 students, the school will have to spend more than 10,000 yuan a year. This money must be paid by our foundation. For every 100 additional primary schools we build, we will have to pay more than 1 million yuan a year.

It won’t be much. In six or seven years, the money the foundation spends may be enough to build another group of Hope Primary Schools.

With the same amount of money, we could have built 200 Hope Primary Schools, but in the end we could only build 100.”

Someone present stood up and refuted Lin Weimin's idea with reason and evidence.

He nodded calmly, "You're right."

Lin Weimin asked the man to sit down, sorted out his thoughts and said, "However, we have to consider one issue, which is the actual role and practical significance of Hope Primary School."

"In many impoverished areas, children are also part of the labor force; even if they do less work, they are creating value for a family.

Our primary schools provide free meals, not only to increase the enthusiasm of parents to send their children to school, but also to reduce the burden on these poor families. Isn't this a kind of help for the people in poor areas? "

After hearing Lin Weimin's words, everyone present fell into deep thought again.

Everyone had to admit that what Lin Weimin said made sense. The existence of Hope Primary Schools is to help families and children in poor areas solve long-term survival difficulties, but at the same time, attention should also be paid to the short-term needs of these families.

If you can’t even afford to eat tomorrow, will anyone still consider life ten years from now?

While everyone was thinking, Lin Weimin said, "In my opinion, our Hope Primary School only provides the most basic food for the students. We can coordinate with the food department to pay them the cost price of the purchase, so as to keep the expenditure of our foundation as low as possible.

According to the example just given by the comrade, the additional cost per student per year is controlled below 30 yuan, and for a primary school with 200 students, it is 6,000 yuan. We will try it out for three years, and I think our efforts are worth it. "

Having said that, Lin Weimin sighed.

"When I was discussing the planning of Hope Primary Schools with that leader and Zheng Bu Z, I said that my donation of 37 million yuan would be used to build 100 Hope Primary Schools, with an average investment of 370,000 yuan per school, which is an extremely high and luxurious standard in poor areas.

Because I not only planned the school's classrooms, canteens and dormitories, but also included basic lunch support for students within ten years, subsidies for rural teachers, school offices, learning supplies, extracurricular books, physical education teaching materials, etc.

After understanding it for these days, I also realized that I was too idealistic.

We must first solve the problem of whether or not it exists, and then solve the problem of whether it is good or not.

So I think that our Hope Primary Schools can appropriately cut down on many non-essential expenses, but I think we need to follow through on the issue of lunch, which is the most realistic role of Hope Primary Schools for families and students in poor areas.

Go to school and you can have enough food to eat!"

Lin Weimin's tone was clearly not strong when he said this last sentence, but for some reason, many people present couldn't help but shed tears.

I can have enough food to eat when I go to school.

Such a simple sentence expresses the most urgent demands of families and children in poor areas, and also becomes the most practical significance of the Hope Primary School, a major event that benefits the country and the people.

"I agree!"

A firm voice rang out in the conference room, the young man's eyes were filled with tears and his face was determined.

"I agree!"

Voices rang out one after another, and even the reporters present at the event couldn't help but raise their hands.

This decision is extremely wise!

At the same time, it also made everyone admire Lin Weimin even more for his insight into the most basic needs of families and children in poor areas. Perhaps only Lin Weimin, who proposed the concept of "Hope Primary School", could think of things to such a meticulous and thoughtful level.

The first meeting of the China Youth Education Development Foundation on Hope Primary Schools has ended. This new organization is implementing their program and ideals with amazing action power.

The first batch of staff sent to Gansu and Ningxia will set off in three days. They will conduct a one-month investigation here to finally determine the sites for the first batch of 10 Hope Primary Schools, and will also prepare for the site selection for possible new schools to be built.

It was mid-January, and it was already the coldest time of winter in Yanjing. A group of young people from the Foundation, with an average age of only 28, boarded a train in the snowy wind. They were about to go to the most difficult area of ​​the country, but their hearts were full of passionate emotions and lofty ideals.

Lin Weimin stood on the platform and waved goodbye to everyone. After a long while, when the train disappeared in the snow and wind, he turned back.

Seeing Zheng Guo's eyes full of enthusiasm and passion, he asked, "How is it? Have you made up your mind? Isn't this job I found for you a good one? You will leave your name in history!"

Zheng Guo retracted his gaze, his enthusiasm and excitement gone, and said, "Shuzhi has been scolding you at home for several days!"

Lin Weimin smiled bitterly and said, "You rolled your eyes at me at work too!"

He added: "Let's not talk about her. You are the head of the family. Can't you make the decision on such a matter?"

"Provocation doesn't work on me." Zheng Guo was not fooled.

"This is not a provocation. Anyway, now you have the opportunity. It was you who said before that you wanted to do something meaningful. It's up to you."

What Lin Weimin was talking about with Zheng Guo was his work problem.

The two had talked about the Hope Primary School before. Zheng Guo was yearning for the grand vision described by Lin Weimin and naturally wanted to be involved.

A few days ago, Lin Weimin found him and invited him to work in the foundation as a middle-level manager, mainly responsible for the site selection and inspection of Hope Primary Schools.

Compared with the relaxing and comfortable job at Zhengguo Cultural Center, this job is incomparable in terms of intensity and environment. Yao Shuzhi knew that Lin Weimin was instigating the job transfer at Zhengguo Cultural Center, and naturally she was not happy at all.

He scolded Lin Weimin a lot at home, and ignored him at work.

Zheng Guo glanced again in the direction where the train disappeared, "Let me think about it again!"

Lin Weimin patted him on the shoulder, knowing that he was middle-aged and was caught between his ideals and reality, feeling torn.

After leaving the station, Lin Weimin drove back to the Guowen Society.

He had been busy with the foundation and the Hope Project during this period and had not paid much attention to his work. Fortunately, Cheng Zaochun gave him a green light.

The foundation's matter had come to an end, and Lin Weimin was just planning to focus on his work and deal with the accumulated work at hand, but he didn't expect that someone else would come to his door again.

"For the people!"

Lin Weimin saw the surprise on Lu Yao's face and asked, "Why are you here?"

"CCTV is going to make a TV series of Ordinary World. I came to talk to them about the adaptation."

Lu Yao explained the reason why he came to Beijing, and introduced the middle-aged man behind him to Lin Weimin, "This is Mayor Tian from Qingjian County, my hometown!"

Lin Weimin poured a cup of tea for the two and exchanged a few pleasantries. He knew that Lu Yao would not bring people to the editorial office to find him for no reason, so he took the initiative to ask, "Tell me, what do you want to see me about today?"

Lu Yao and County Magistrate Tian exchanged a glance and said, "Weimin is an acquaintance, just tell me directly."

County Chief Tian nodded and said to Lin Weimin, "Teacher Lin, Teacher Lu Yao is from our hometown of Qingjian County. Our county government specially asked him to bring me to Yanjing to meet you. We saw the Hope Primary School on TV and in the newspapers, and we hope that the foundation can consider building a few primary schools in our area."

After County Chief Tian finished speaking, Lu Yao chimed in, "We are a poor county in Qingjian. The Loess Plateau is full of gullies and ravines, and the climate is dry. Now there is serious soil erosion. Unlike some places that have minerals, we have some bluestone slabs. The people have a hard time, let alone investing in education..."

Lu Yao came to help as a lobbyist this time. He said a lot of things and Lin Weimin listened carefully. After he finished speaking, Lin Weimin fell silent.

County Chief Tian was a little hesitant when he saw this. After a while, Lin Weimin spoke up and said, "In principle, our Hope Primary School gives priority to poor areas. Our first batch of donated schools are tentatively scheduled to be built in Gansu and Ningxia. Shaanxi is located in the central and western part of the country, and Qingjian County is a poor county, so it naturally meets our requirements.

However, the Foundation's inspection team has just left and will take some time to return. Let's wait until after the New Year, and I'll have someone go to your place to take a look, and then we can determine the specific scale of the donation."

County Mayor Tian and Lu Yao were overjoyed to hear this, and County Mayor Tian held Lin Weimin's hand tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, Teacher Lin! You really helped us a lot!"

"You are too polite. The situation in your county is already within the scope of our donation."

County Chief Tian spoke for a long time to express his gratitude, and Lin Weimin downplayed his words. However, he is the person in charge of education, and a few Hope Primary Schools with hundreds of thousands of dollars can at least solve the schooling problem for nearly a thousand children.

What a big deal this is!

After talking about the Hope Primary School, Lin Weimin chatted with the two for a while, and Lu Yao and County Mayor Tian said goodbye.

Lin Weimin sent the two men to the door of the back building and was about to return to the office when he heard someone calling him.

"For the people!"

Lin Weimin turned around and saw Qin Chaoyang, with a head full of silver hair, waving at him enthusiastically not far away.

Lin Weimin looked at Comrade Lao Qin's smile and concluded that this old man must be up to no good.

"Why are you here?"

Qin Chaoyang walked closer and smiled more enthusiastically, "I came to see you. Are you free tonight? I'll treat you to dinner."

Lin Weimin became even more certain that the old man had bad intentions.

We have known each other for so many years, when has Mr. Tan ever invited guests?

"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't be so hypocritical."

Qin Chaoyang was not angry either, and said, "Then I'll be frank. Your Hope Primary School..."

have to!

The Hope Primary School project was a success, and Lin Weimin became a popular figure!

only……

He looked at Comrade Lao Qin and asked: Didn’t I just help your hometown build a connection some time ago?

Old comrade, desire is insatiable!

(End of this chapter)