February 21, 2010
Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong
Written by Lydia Ma

It is typical for Taiwanese people to greet one another with the words "Have a prosperous new year" during Lunar New Year holidays and Christians are no exception. Of course, Christians also wish one another "Have a peaceful new year" and many of our churches hold a New Year thanksgiving service on Lunar New Year's Day.

During Lunar New Year we can also expect adults to give out red envelopes and children and elderly people to wait expectantly for them, and the economy usually gets a boost shortly afterward because people's purchasing powers have increased if only momentarily.

Sensing this might be a good opportunity to help social organizations stuck in a financial rut, 6 young adults with a passion for social welfare designed 6 kinds of red envelopes to help 6 small non-profit social organizations. They began selling these envelopes online as a fundraiser to support such organizations. These artists felt it would be fun if people could buy special red envelopes and donate to charity at the same time.

During a press conference held at National Taiwan University on January 30, these artists showed off their artworks for all to see. According to the event coordinator, Cheng Shih-yu, lingering financial crisis and Typhoon Morakot led to so much financial loss last year that social organizations that depend on financial donations had significantly lower revenues in the past two years. Some of these organizations reportedly experienced more than 30% drop in revenue, forcing them to deal with unprecedented challenges and to fight for survival. Such circumstances also inspired these artists to come up with the idea of designing special red envelopes to raise funds.

One of the beneficiaries of these sales is Garden of Mercy Foundation, which cares for infants with AIDS. The foundation's CEO, Chiou Shu-mei, who is also the wife of a PCT pastor in Taipei, said that regardless of how bad the economy might have been in the past, her organization would somehow manage to raise NT$12 millions in funds. However, Garden of Mercy only received NT$9 millions last year.

Despite a significant decline in donations during the past year, Chiou said her organization would continue to care for infants with AIDS by cutting down other expenses. But she urged people to support this fundraiser as a means of supporting the work of social service organizations.

Other organizations helped by this red envelope fundraiser included social service organizations caring for physically disabled and developmentally challenged children, as well as those caring for prisoners, children of foreign brides, and delinquent youth.

Printed on the surface of these red envelopes is a colorful and cute tiger and buyers have 6 different designs to choose from. The designs were created by six students specializing in architecture, art, caricature, and film. Sales will continue until end of February and each package costs NT$90. Proceeds from sales will be donated to the social service organizations listed above. Please visit http://www.love-forward.com/, for more information.

Taiwan Church News