Yang Mingnian and his wife will bring their baby son to Beijing for treatment thanks to netizens. Provided to China Daily

It was 10:07 pm, on Oct 20, 2010, when Yang Mingnian posted his plea for help on the Internet for his 1-year-old son, diagnosed with congenital heart disease. He needed about 60,000 yuan ($9,100) for the operation, a sum way beyond the means of the migrant-worker family.

Twenty-four hours passed, and the post only attracted 10 visitors on www.tianya.cn, one of the country's most popular online forums.

At 10:22 am on Oct 22, some 36 hours after Yang posted his appeal, two strangers showed up at his home in Baoji, Shaanxi province, saying that they had seen Yang's post and wanted to verify its accuracy.

The two men left with copies of the medical report of Yang's baby son, his credit card and photos showing the family's dire living conditions. Once these appeared on the forum, the post attracted more than 43,600 clicks and nearly 1,000 offers of help poured in.

By Jan 10, barely three months after the initial post, Yang had received 47,750 yuan in donations, nearly enough for the surgery.

Micro-philanthropy, a legacy of the Internet age, is changing the face of charity.

Based on more direct interaction between those who need help and those willing to extend a hand, it goes beyond mere charity. It includes volunteering, emergency response and mentoring.

When Hunxiaozhai, 26, a BBS moderator at Tianya, and his colleagues, first saw Yang's post, they thought it was a fraud. Fortunately, they decided to check it out before trashing it, Hunxiaozhai says.

They found a netizen named "Shifei Dingding", who happened to live in Baoji. He volunteered to visit Yang's home on Oct 21, but was stopped by a car accident.

The next day, Shifei Dingding and another Net volunteer "Lao Yang" drove more than an hour and finally located Yang's shabby home in the suburbs.

"I was taken aback to see two strangers at my door, telling me they were there because of something I wrote online one night," Yang says.

"You cannot imagine how desperate I was when I went online for help. I had no other choice, and frankly did not expect much of a response," says the 27-year-old who seldom uses the Internet.

The evidence posted on the forum drew a quick reaction. Angel Mom, an organization that helps needy children, helped the family to set up an account for their son Yang Jiancong to receive donations.

On Dec 3, Yang's post was highlighted on the homepage of Tianya.cn, with an up-to-date listing of every donation Yang had received and spent.

"Within 24 hours, more than 30,000 yuan had come into the account," Hunxiaozhai says.

The Internet is fast emerging as a major tool in charity drives.

Deng Zhixin, founder of Angel Mom, which helps disabled children access medical aid and also finds adoptive parents for orphans, says: "We rely on the Internet to identify children who need help."

Deng says their organization gives priority to children with cleft lips and other minor disorders.

Although in most cases, a simple operation is all that is required, the families are unable to afford the costs of between 30,000 and 50,000 yuan.

As in Yang's case, Deng says they find target families from online forums, then approach netizens living nearby to verify the situation before opening an account to raise funds.

However, fund-raising is no cakewalk, as online donors usually respond with just 10 yuan.

"We can raise about 10,000 yuan in three days if we advertise in the print media," Deng says. "But on the Internet, it takes much longer."

Besides collecting funds, Angel Mom also assists with information.

For example, there are several reputable hospitals in the country offering the required surgery for children suffering from congenital heart disease. But anxious families often waste too much time trying to pin down the best option. Volunteers from Angel Mom, who are medical workers, help ease the process with recommendations of suitable hospitals.

Yang's family is now preparing for its trip to Beijing on Feb 20, and a volunteer in Beijing has already helped the family secure a bed at the Hua Xin Hospital, or the First Hospital of Tsinghua University.

But he is still worried about having enough money.

"So far I've received 52,000 yuan, which is enough for a simple surgery," he says.

"But doctors say if my son needs a more complicated one, the cost could well run to 80,000 yuan."