According to Xu Zhiying, she is willing to help others whenever she can.
For the past eight years, Xu has worked for five neighborhood committees in Jiangning Community, Jing'an District. Her name and arduous work are remembered by many.
In China, the neighborhood committee is an organization at the grassroots level for self governance, education and services.
As the director of Chong'an Lane Neighborhood Committee, Xu is responsible for almost every aspect of residents' daily lives - everything from helping settle family disputes to taking care of disabled people and seniors.
"From the unborn baby to the old people who pass away suddenly, we all share the responsibility," the 54-year-old said.
"Every day I work from the early morning to the late afternoon, sometimes I cannot go home before midnight. There are always emergencies."
Some of the emergencies are difficult to imagine, yet they do happen.
Only a few days ago, people in Chong'an Lane were threatened by a madman, who woke them every night and carried a knife in his hand.
"His parents are both over 80," Xu said. "They are too poor to send him to hospital. Neither do they have the ability to control their son's actions."
After she found out, Xu contacted the local psychiatric hospital and persuaded them to reduce the man's medical fee. Xu and her colleagues also donated money to cover his expenses in advance.
With a mere monthly salary of 600 yuan (US$72.29), the middle-aged woman takes home nearly nothing as she always buys things for the poor with her money.
At the Dragon Boat Festival, she bought 280 zongzi, a glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. She sent them to 35 seniors who live alone in the community.
Many of the recipients were so touched that they burst into tears when they received the special gift.
"I have seven children, none of them have ever thought of bringing me one zongzi at the festival," said Tang Jingshu, an 82-year-old woman with tears in her eyes. "Xu treats me much better than my own children."
Many of the elderly people consider Xu like a daughter, to whom they would like to express their deepest feelings. Some consider her the person they can trust.
Once a 90-year-old woman, surnamed Jiang, was sent to the hospital for leg surgery. However, no relative could sign for her before the operation as her husband had just died and her daughter was in the United States.
"I was so surprised as the old lady insisted that I sign for her and told others that I am her daughter," Xu said.
According to Zhu Yikang, a disabled middle-aged man who also works in the neighborhood committee, Xu is the most warm-hearted person to the handicapped he has ever met in his life.
"Although I have been working with her for only four months, I can tell she loves and cares for handicapped people from the bottom of her heart," he said
Three months before, a performance was organized by Xu and her colleagues for the disabled in the community.
They invited members from the district's Yueju Opera club to perform. They also invited cancer survivors to tell their own stories, which has greatly appreciated by the audience.
At the end, everyone was so happy that they were reluctant to leave.
"Few people knew that Xu donated the money for the performance," Zhu said. "We were so grateful to her. It is the best performance for the disabled people that I have ever attended, which offered us an opportunity to communicate with each other."
Before Xu was appointed to Chong'an Lane, no one would talk to a young woman with mental problems in the neighborhood. Her parents worked all day and never talked to her.
However, Xu's arrival changed the woman's life. Every time Xu passes by her home, she drops in for a visit or brings her a small gift.
From time to time, Xu takes the young woman for a walk around the neighborhood. She tells her stories and instructs her to do some simple exercises.
"The woman waits for her 'Mom Xu' at the gate every day," Zhu said.