Thieves stole Mr Lu's life savings

Lu Qing Zhai, originally from Liaoning, China, lives on superannuation, and supplements his income by growing and selling Chinese vegetables.

Mr Lu has given his permission for this page, however, says he does not want to benefit from these donations directly.

He came to New Zealand as a refugee and has been saving for a trip to visit his two daughters in Australia and an autistic son in China.

But Lu's world came crashing down when opportunistic thieves entered his home on October 31 while he was tending to his vegetable garden.

They took his wallet, containing about $700 cash, mobile phone, passport and ASB bank Eftpos card.

About $3000 has since been withdrawn from his account and his bank card was also used to pay for $50 worth of fuel at a petrol station.

"It's all the money I have and I took a long time to save it, so I feel really crushed," said Lu, who lives alone at a unit in St Johns.

"I've been saving to visit my children and grandchildren for Chinese New Year. They are the only family I have."

Lu, who used to depend on food parcels, said he was living on borrowed money for food and daily expenses.

"In all the years that I've been here, I feel New Zealand is quite a safe country," he said.

"I was just outside the house in the garden, so I didn't think there was a need to lock the doors."

Please help Mr Lu regain his faith in the community by donating any amount you can.

The above excerpts were taken from the NZ Herald article by Lincoln Tan dated 9 Nov, 2017 and can be read in full here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11941876