Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles donated $30,000 to assist Chinatown elderly
Picture 1: Abraham Chu (sixth from left) personally handed a donation of $30,000.
Picture 2: On the packaging box are written thoughtful words of "Love, Warmth, Taiwan" and "Difficult times together and Successful Protest", with a red heart being painted.
Picture 3: Abraham Chu presented a delicious bento to the elderly at the Cathay Pacific Senior Apartment.
Hop Sing Tong Association President Stanlar Wong and Ying On Merchants & Labor Benevolent Association President Yu Cuimei volunteer to distribute the meal.
On June 15Th, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los
Angeles launched the "Taiwan Love Meal Delivery for the Elderly"
program at the Cathay Pacific Senior Apartment by donating
$30,000 to CCBA, who plans to utilize this funding to conduct
the luncheon charity activity. Lunch box has a logo of “Taiwan
Can Help”. This allows the elderly to feel the warmth and love
from Taiwan.
Abraham Chu, Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
in Los Angeles, and Tony Ong, Deputy Director, attended the
event. Abraham Chu personally presents the donation, and on
behalf of the volunteers, distributed the first hot meal of the
day to the elderly in the apartment.
Abraham Chu, Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
in Los Angeles said he is very happy to have the opportunity
working together with CCBA to promote the spirit of great love
and be involved with the distribution of lunch box activity to
the Chinatown elderly. Taiwan’s love, not only disseminate in
Chinatown, but also spread through the much needed help within
the mainstream government agencies and convalescent homes via
the Southern California overseas Chinese leadership. This is the
best portrayal of “Taiwan Can Help”.
Tony Ong, Deputy Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Office in Los Angeles also said that both CCBA and Chinatown
Service Center have been promoting the lunch box and medical
supply activities for the elderly since the virus outbreak. This
is grateful and admired by many, therefore should be supported
by all sectors.
CCBA President Mei Lau, Vice President Ernest Lee, Chairman
Andrew Kwong, Vice Chairwoman Angela Cai, and Advisors Michael
Cheung, Peter Leung, Wu Xiqi, and Chinatown Service Center
Executive Director Peter Ng, as well as Cai Qiguang, the head of
Cathay Pacific Senior Apartments, and Tan Ruheng, Chairman of
the Management Committee, Hop Sing Tong Association President
Stanlar Wong, Ying On Merchants & Labor Benevolent Association
President Yu Cuimei, Chinese Women’s New Life Movement Club
Vice President Mabel Luu, and Taipei Economic and Cultural
Office in Los Angeles Director Amy Wang, Deputy Directors Kevin
Yeh, and Viola Cheng, and Cultural Center of Taipei Economics
and Cultural Offices in Los Angeles Deputy Director Florian
Chien all 30 of them attended the event on the 15th.
Abraham Chu said that the elderly living in the senior apartment
in Chinatown are severely affected by the pandemic. Besides
worrying about the health problems, most elderlies are
inconvenient to travel. In addition, many nearby supermarkets
have been closed before the pandemic. The stay-at-home order has
also been imposed so that visitors such as relatives and friends
are banned to visit. This leads to cooking problems as they are
unable to purchase groceries. Therefore, he is very happy to
receive support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and pass on
love to the elderly.
Starting from April 20th, CCBA and Chinatown Service Center will
jointly deliver meals at least three times a week to the nearby
Chinatown senior centers. They will also provide package
includes masks, gloves, protective equipment and daily
essentials.
300 lunch boxes, with sticker printed the map of Taiwan and
written with “Taiwan Can Help”, and "Love, Warmth, Taiwan",
"Difficult times together and Successful Protest", will be
prepared by Chinatown’s long established Golden Dragon
Restaurant. Starting in April, CCBA and Chinatown Service Center
will deliver meals to the elderly. Peter Ng said that these
seniors are all at high risk group. Some have trouble moving
around, and relatives are unable to visit. At the beginning, the
target was 300 residents, but now it exceeds 1,300.
CCBA President Mei Lau said that the prior fundraising from Gil
Cedillo, the city counselor of the first constituency of Los
Angeles, plus donation from the community, totaled $45,000, will
assist about 500 residents from Cathay Pacific Senior Apartment,
Chinatown Metro Apartment and Grand Plaza for their meal
problems during the pandemic. Lunch box will be distributed at
least three times a week (usually on Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday) to the senior centers. Chinatown Service Center
Executive Director Peter Ng indicated that total received from
the fundraising including the $30,000 from the Taipei Economic
and Cultural Office in Los Angeles reaches $110,000. Los Angeles
elected U.S. Representative Gil Cisneros also donated $25,000.
He is very thankful to the Los Angeles City Hall, the community
and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles for
their generous donation, so that the elderly from vulnerable
groups can be taken care of.