The Zenan Homeless Social Welfare Foundation is calling for donations to help remedy a 60 percent funding shortfall for food boxes that will be distributed to people in need over the Lunar New Year holidays.

The foundation told CNA Wednesday that they plan to distribute around 12,000 lucky red envelopes with NT$500 (US$18.09) inside and boxes filled with prepared and packaged foods such as glutenous fried rice, pork, ginseng chicken, mushroom chicken, sesame oiled-mushroom, sesame fried pork floss, and tuna.

The total cost for the program is approximately NT$13.2 million, which is calculated by 12,000 multiplied by the NT$500 lucky red envelope and NT$600, which is the cost of the food box, the foundation said.

However, only around 30-40 percent of the money has been raised for the program so far, as the pandemic has affected many businesses, some of which have closed for good, and individuals that used to donate, the foundation said.

As a result, the group is asking the public to reach out with any financial support they can spare, as well as donations in the form of groceries and toiletries such as vegetables, shampoo, and soap.

Once the funds have been raised, the boxes will be distributed by its 24 stations throughout Taiwan, with Taipei Main Station and the city’s Longshan Temple metro station area as one of the focal points, the foundation said.

The distribution of the boxes will start around Jan. 18-19, in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, the foundation said.

The lucky red envelope and food box program stemmed from an annual event started in 1991 in Taipei that saw the foundation hold a banquet for people in need, such as homeless people, senior citizens that lived alone, and poor single mothers.

This year, the foundation said it had substituted the banquet for a food box program to avoid any unnecessary gatherings in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the last 30 years, they have fed over hundreds of thousands of people, while 870,729 deliveries of food were made in 2020 alone, according to the foundation’s statistics.

Meanwhile, also calling for donations this winter to help those in need is the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF), which aims to raise NT$70 million to help struggling families.

The organization is holding a promotion whereby the first 1,500 people to donate NT$2,000 will receive a 720ml travel mug with a reusable straw lid.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel