我的中国梦：美国梦想家在中国

　　　　图为贝林与一名坐轮椅的残疾孩童，轮椅为贝林成立的轮椅基金会所捐赠。

　　Fifteen years ago, Kenneth E. Behring was the man who had everything, from a private jet to his own club in the United States' National Football League. However, despite being one of the richest 400 people in the US, as determined by Forbes Magazine, he was not satisfied with his life of enormous wealth. That is, until he had an epiphany that lead him to find a new reason for living. Now, Behring, 86, who was a recipient of China's National Friendship award in 2013 for his philanthropic work in the country, says that he has found joy and inner peace.

　　His work in China has ranged from donating wheelchairs and stuffed animal specimens to supporting many museums.

　　Recalling the moment he met Premier Li Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People in 2013, where he received the National Friendship Award, Behring says that he felt nervous but pleased to receive the great honor.

　　Behring was born in Illinois and his family moved to Wisconsin when he was 4. It was in Wisconsin where he started his first car dealership, selling second-hand vehicles in the 1950s.

　　But in the first year after Behring started his business, a snowstorm hit the town and almost destroyed his young business. He exchanged one of his cars for a snow clearing vehicle, and drove around town helping people remove snow from their front yards.

　　Behring made some money, and more importantly, built close connections with a number of potential clients. When the snowstorms ended, many of them went to his dealership to buy cars.

　　"Walking out of the fixed mindset and learning to create opportunities in difficulty are very important," Behring wrote in his autobiography. "When the majority faced the same problem, it meant that there could be a business opportunity if you were able to solve it."

　　After establishing a successful car dealership, Behring moved to Florida to develop his real estate business. In 1962, based on his innovative idea to build a community for retirees, a new city named Tamarac was established.

　　A decade later, Behring moved to San Francisco's Bay Area and started to develop the Blackhawk, a luxury community famous for its world-class golf course.

　　Behring truly embodied the American dream, but despite all his wealth, he was unhappy.

　　In 1999, after witnessing the poor hospital conditions in some African countries, he was inspired to help charity organizations transport relief goods on his private jet.

　　In a Romanian village, when an old man who had lost his legs received a wheelchair from Behring, he cried in gratitude. He said that he could finally leave home and smoke with his neighbors.

　　"It was the first time I realized that such a small thing like a wheelchair could change one's life, bringing them freedom and courage to live," Behring recalls.

　　In June 2000, Behring announced the establishment of the Wheelchair Foundation, and set up a goal to donate one million wheelchairs globally.

　　In 2001, Behring established a partnership with the China Disabled Persons' Federation to help distribute wheelchairs in China.

　　Since then, Behring has distributed more than 325,000 wheelchairs in more than 40 cities and towns in China to disabled people including 500 survivers of the Tangshan Earthquake in 1976.

　　Despite an outbreak of SARS in China in 2003, Behring came to the country as planned to donate wheelchairs.

　　Behring received many letters of thanks from people who received his wheelchairs that gave them the confidence to change their lives, he says.

　　Xie Yanhong, a man from Dalian, Liaoning province, received a wheelchair from Behring in 2003.

　　With the wheelchair, Xie, who loved to swim, started to chase his dream. In August 2003, he became the first disabled Chinese person to swim across the English Channel.

　　"You sent me love and blessings with your wheelchair. Sitting on the wheelchair, I went to the UK and achieved my dream," Xie wrote in his letter to Behring.

　　Since 1997, Behring has donated to the Washington-based Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and helped the reconstruction of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

　　Since 2003, Behring has donated stuffed animal specimens to museums in dozen of cities across China, including Beijing, Dalian and Tianjin.

　　The wheelchair donation is only a part of Behring's philanthropy efforts in China.

　　Behring founded the annual Global Natural History Day Competition in 2012 to inspire children to tackle the world's problems.

　　It is the third year of the event held in China which has the theme of encouraging students to understand the importance of sustainable development. Later this month the global final will be held in Chongqing.

　　Behring also has started a safe drinking water project in northwestern China together with local governments, which aims to help eliminate waterborne diseases and impurities by carrying out feasibility studies and purchasing water purification systems.

　　15年前，肯尼斯·尤金·贝林(Kenneth E. Behring)富甲一方，无所不有。上至私人飞机下至美国橄榄球联盟俱乐部，然而，尽管作为美国福布斯排行榜上前四百名富豪之一，但他对自己坐拥巨额财富的生活并不满意，直至他某天突然顿悟，让他找到了人生的另一层真谛。现如今贝林已86岁高龄，曾因其在中国乐善好施的行为荣获2013年中国国家友谊奖，贝林说找到了生命乐趣所在，内心充实。

　　贝林在中国不仅捐赠了轮椅，还向多家博物馆捐赠了动物标本。

　　2013年李克强总理在人民大会堂会见了他，那里正是他荣获国家友谊奖所在地，贝林说他很紧张，但能接受这莫大的荣誉，他很开心。

　　贝林生于伊利诺斯州，四岁时举家迁移至威斯康星州。也正是在威斯康星州，他开始了他的汽车经销商生涯，在20世纪50年代销售二手汽车。

　　在贝林开始其商业生涯的第一年，镇上受暴风雪袭击，差点儿让他的商业生涯毁于一旦。贝林用其中一辆汽车换了一辆扫雪车，并开到镇上帮助人们清扫其庭院前的雪。

　　贝林赚了钱，更重要的是和许多潜在客户建立了紧密联系。暴风雪停止之际，许多人都到他的店里购买汽车。

　　“摒弃固有思维，须学会在困境中创造机会，这一点很重要。”贝林在其自传中这般写道。

　　“当大多数人都面临着同一问题，也便意味着倘若你有解决之道，可能就会有商机。”

　　在汽车经销行业旗开得胜之际，贝林迁至佛罗里达发展其房地产事业。1962年，在为退休人员建立社区这一创新理念指导下，一座名为塔马拉克的城市诞生了。

　　十年后，贝林迁至旧金山海湾地区，开始开发黑鹰别墅区，这是一处豪华奢侈的社区，主要以其世界顶级的高尔夫球场而著名。

　　贝林把美国梦真真切切地落到实处，但是尽管其家财万贯，他依旧心事重重。

　　1999年，在目睹一些非洲国家极差的医院设施条件后，他大受启发，欲利用其私人飞机助慈善机构一臂之力，运输救援物资。

　　罗马尼亚村庄一名失去双腿的老人收到贝林捐赠的轮椅时热泪盈眶。他说，他终于可以走出家中，和邻居一起抽烟话家常。

　　“这是我第一次意识到捐赠轮椅这么一件小事竟可以改变人的一生，赋予他人自由，让他们有勇气活下去”，贝林回想到。

　　2000年6月，贝林宣布成立世界轮椅基金会，并设定目标，要在全球范围内捐赠一百万辆轮椅。

　　2001年，贝林与中国残疾人联合会建立合作关系，为捐赠轮椅做贡献。

　　从那时起，贝林在中国为残疾人捐赠了32.5万多辆轮椅，遍布40多个城镇，受益人包括1976年唐山大地震的500名幸存者。*

　　尽管2003年中国发生“非典”，但贝林还是照计划来到中国捐赠轮椅。

　　贝林说，他收到许多受他捐赠轮椅的患者感谢信，信中表示，轮椅赋予患者信心，改变了他们的人生。

　　谢延红来自辽宁省大连市，他于2003年收到了贝林捐赠的轮椅。

　　有了轮椅，喜欢游泳的谢先生开始追寻他的梦想。2003年8月，他成为第一个游过英吉利海峡的中国残疾人士。

　　谢先生在给贝林的信中写道：“您的轮椅给我送来了友爱之情，送来了祝福。坐在轮椅上，我来到英国，实现了我的梦想。”

　　自1997年开始，贝林便开始向华盛顿史密森自然历史博物馆捐赠，并帮助重建史密森美国国家历史博物馆。

　　自2003年以来，贝林已向中国几十座城市博物馆捐赠了动物标本，包括北京、大连、天津。

　　捐赠轮椅仅仅只是贝林在中国慈善之举的冰山一角。

　　贝林于2012年开始举办年度“环球自然日”青少年自然科学知识挑战赛，旨在鼓励孩子们解决全球问题。

　　今年的挑战赛以鼓励学生了解可持续发展的重要性为主题，是中国第三次举办该挑战赛。7月末将会在重庆举行全球总决赛。+

　　贝林在中国西北部也和当地政府合作成立了安全饮水项目，旨在通过实行项目可行性研究以及购买水净化系统，遏制水传疾病和不明杂质的传播。