Li Qiyuan, a Chinese-born autistic child, established the brand By Kelvin Li with the help of his mother, selling eco-friendly bags and umbrellas designed by himself and using his profits for charitable activities, as reported by Malaysia’s Sin Chew Daily.

The umbrellas designed by Li, featuring pictures of endangered animals which he painted himself, reflect not only the future of autistic children but also love without borders. Li plans to use some of his profits for charitable activities.

Diagnosed with autism at 5 years of age

Li has a Chinese mother and Malaysian father. His mother Lin Meiyu, a former businesswoman in China, became one of the main founders of a charity after her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 5. The charity aims to provide education for autistic children and to help and get support from other families in similar circumstances.

A few months ago, the Hangzhou Parents' Support Association cooperated with a brand created by the China Federation of Mentally Disabled Parents' Organizations to launch Li’s eco-friendly bags based on two of his paintings. The bags were made from old clothes, giving them a new life, and assembled by disabled workers at a Suzhou factory for the disabled in China. Some of the sales profits will be used to support charitable activities of the Star Awakening Fraternity.

The bags will also be sold at Chung Hua No 3 Middle School, where Li studies. Li and his mother set up an endangered animal protection association at the school, and the profits they get will also be used to aid its development in 2020. Lin Meiyu also hopes that the bags can help groups in need for charitable sales in the future.

The bags inspired Lin to apply the paintings to additional products, such as umbrellas. She said that the program aims to show more people the talents of autistic children but not to make profits. It can not only cultivate their ability to make a living, but also raise awareness among more people about the protection of endangered animals.

To establish a brand, the first step is to name it. After countless selections, Li finally named it By Kelvin Li, and chose a hornbill as the logo in order to popularize Negeri Sarawak, Malaysia.

Li said that he is grateful to his mother for printing his paintings into eco-friendly products. He hopes people will replace plastic bags with reusable bags and give sea animals a clean habitat so that they won't die from eating plastics.

Li’s dream is to protect the wild animals on the earth. When talking about endangered animals, he got very excited, saying that it’s the inappropriate behavior of human beings that has driven these animals closer to extinction. He hoped that the people who buy the umbrellas would enjoy the pictures on them and remember to love animals and protect the earth.

Hundreds of orders in China

Li and his mother have received no less than 100 umbrella orders since they went on sale in China, and have also gotten orders from Singapore. A buyer told Lin Meiyu that carrying the bag is like carrying hope.

For parents with special children, parenting is more difficult than usual. It is more like taking a road and never knowing when it will end. But Li’s paintings can encourage those parents: “If Li can do this, so can other children.”

"What we want is not sympathy, but a sustainable career that our children can be engaged in for the future. Children with autism can also walk their own path," said Lin Meiyu.