Frugal Shanghai Couple Leaves US$690,000 to Save 455 Children With Heart Disease

An elderly Shanghai couple who split a 17-yuan lunchbox into two meals and repaired broken reading glasses with tape donated 5 million yuan (US$690,000) before their deaths to help 455 children with congenital heart disease, The Paper reported yesterday.

Du Yingrong and Lu Suying, a childless couple living in a modest 50-square-meter apartment, contacted Shanghai Yodak Cardio-Thoracic Hospital in early 2018 after seeing its charity program for children with heart defects.

Hospital staff told them that helping one child from a poor family could cost more than 10,000 yuan. Soon after, the couple arrived with 500,000 yuan in cash.

"Let's start with 10 children," they said.

They later added another 4.5 million yuan. The money, managed through the Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation, ultimately funded treatment for 455 children.

Staff were stunned. The couple lived frugally, kept old furniture and logged tiny expenses in notebooks. Du rode a tricycle to buy one boxed meal from a community canteen, enough for the two of them to eat twice. Lu once scolded a social worker for buying milk that was too expensive.

When urged to keep more money for themselves, Du revealed he had late-stage cancer. Lu also had heart failure.

"We probably won't live much longer," he said. "We have some pension money. It is enough."

Du died on June 23, 2018, four days after the couple completed notarized wills and estate arrangements. He was 81. Lu spent her final years in the hospital and died on August 31, 2025, at 92.

With no children, the couple appointed the foundation as Lu's guardian under a notarized voluntary guardianship agreement. The foundation handled her medical decisions, daily expenses and funeral arrangements, and will sell the couple's apartment, with the proceeds earmarked for more children with heart disease.

In March 2026, staff sorting through the couple's home found taped glasses, old receipts, musical instruments, travel photos and bundles of love letters. Their records also showed years of earlier donations to disaster relief and charity projects.

On April 21, 2026, the foundation held a sea burial for the couple off Shanghai.

A memorial exhibition later honored their quiet generosity. As the foundation wrote: "Death is not the end. Being forgotten is."