On a chilly Chicago morning, almost 100 Taiwanese people who work, study, are visiting or permanently live in the windy city are busy coming and going at the homeless shelter A Safe Haven.

Inside, Taiwanese signature dishes and sweet delights are neatly placed on display – pineapple cakes, bubble tea, three cup chicken, pork belly buns, braised pork belly, braised napa cabbage with egg floss, dried radish omelets, oily tofu and so on. With its boisterous mixed crew of people of different ethnic background and skin tones, the kitchen resembles a miniature United Nations.

As lunchtime approaches, the more than 400 people, young and old, men and women, who live at the shelter because they became homeless for various reasons, find themselves amid a smorgasbord of Taiwanese food.

While they enjoy the freshly cooked, steaming dishes, they are also treated to an acoustic pleasure – Taiwanese violinist Kuo Wei-ting, a member of the world-famous Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and three other musicians from Taiwan are playing Taiwanese folk songs. Young people and the children of Taiwanese-Americans entertain the audience with a techno-dancing Third Prince performance and indigenous Taiwanese dances. After the feast, the shelter residents are introduced to IT equipment that has been purchased in Taiwan with donations from Friends of Taiwan, a group of overseas entrepreneurs, and will be used for job training.

Overseas Representative Offices Hold Taiwan Day to Mark 40^th Anniversary of Taiwan Relations Act

Taiwan Day counts among a string of events that Taiwan’s representative offices in the United States have organized to commemorate the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act by Taiwan and the United States in 1979. In the 40 years since, Taiwan continued to grow and thrive, posting astounding results in the economic and cultural spheres as well with a view to democratic development. Just like large corporations hold “Global Volunteer Day” or “National Volunteer Day” activities to thank the local communities for their support, Taiwan’s overseas representative offices celebrate Taiwan Day on April 7 to give back to American society through volunteer activities.

Although diplomatic missions are not enterprises, they still need to engage in corporate social responsibility campaigns just like companies to give back to local society, most importantly by using Taiwan’s core competencies to assist social development.

The Taiwan Day events allowed a group of little known, warm-hearted Taiwanese people to demonstrate their soft and hard power, with participants from mainstream international organizations and U.S. lawmakers praising their engagement profusely. It deserves to be mentioned that these philanthropic endeavors are not a short-lived one-day “performances” but symbolic of how Taiwanese living abroad engage in volunteer work in their everyday lives.

 

Routinely Doing Good, Even Musicians Joining In

For Taiwanese living abroad, authentic Taiwanese food, beloved and admired by visitors to Taiwan, is more that just a way to fight their homesickness with a big feast.

On Taiwan Day, Chen Mei-li, a teacher with the Chicago Taiwanese Cuisine and Culture Association, brought her students to the kitchen early in the morning to prepare the dishes. Chen began many years ago to bring together Taiwanese women to cook meals and snacks to raise funds for philanthropic causes. They are donating the proceeds back to Taiwan to support Liou-Guei Senior High School in Kaohsiung, the Afterschool Association of Taiwan, the Sacred Heart Home for the handicapped in Chiayi County, the Pingtung Christian Bethany Home for people with intellectual disabilities, and other philanthropic organizations. When they have money, they donate money; when they have manpower, they provide manpower.

This time, Chen even had to turn away many enthusiastic Taiwanese who wanted to help because the shelter kitchen could only accommodate a limited number of people. Taiwanese Jenny Yang, general manager of Phoenix Bean, whose fresh soy products are sold via major retailers such as the Whole Food supermarket chain, donated the soy products for Taiwan Day.

As the volunteers moved about the dining crowd serving Taiwanese food, some shelter residents raved about the “magic Taiwanese pork belly buns.”

Taiwan’s humanitarian spirit has created friendly public sentiment and has taken cultural and artistic attainments to a higher plane. Among the more than one hundred members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – which is the No. 1 in the United States and ranks fifth worldwide – are four musicians from Taiwan, including two principal musicians.

In the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, whose performances always sell out quickly, and Chicago’s music scene, the four are the pride of Taiwan. For violist Kuo, who brought young Taiwanese musicians with him, it is not the first time he has participated in a philanthropic event in Chicago. He deftly put together a program that included famous Taiwanese tunes so that the audience could learn more about Taiwan’s culture with the performance.

Friends of Taiwan Donate Computers for Vocational Training at A Safe Haven

On this day, Friends of Taiwan, an Illinois-based nonpartisan, non-religious civic group founded by Junior Hsu, a former president of the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce of North America, and other overseas Taiwanese, entrepreneurs, give the shelter residents new hope for the future by donating IT equipment.

Just like the main character in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, people might find their lives in shambles due to a whim of fate. A Safe Haven shelters a diverse group of people of different ethnic backgrounds, men and women, young and old, with different stories. Some residents have even brought small children to this temporary home.

A Save Haven Foundation President and co-founder Neli Vazquez Rowland, who used to work in the finance industry, hopes that the shelter can offer job training on top of a full stomach and temporary housing. Therefore, Friends of Taiwan has donated 10 high-end Acer PCs, not only to demonstrate the high-tech capabilities of Taiwan’s manufacturing industry but also to help the shelter residents learn new job skills and to found social enterprises. Every year, 5,000 people graduate from the shelter’s job training and reenter the workforce.

This is, of course, only a small part of the charity work Friends of Taiwan carry out in the United States. The group also provides scholarships for mutual visits between Taiwanese and American students to further cultural understanding and exchange. They also hope that Taiwanese-Americans can cultivate their cultural heritage despite growing up outside Taiwan to let the world gain a better understanding about the beauty of the nation.

Taiwanese 2^nd Largest Rotary Club Member Group

The Rotary Club of Chicago, which partnered with TECO for the Taiwan Day events, has witnessed how its Taiwanese members quietly engage in charity work and humanitarian efforts. The Rotary Club, one of the most influential international charity organization, was founded in Chicago, which is why the local chapter is known as Rotary One.

Surprisingly, Rotary’s second largest member group behind U.S. nationals is those hailing from Taiwan.

In the Arch Klumph Society, which brings together Rotary Club members from around the globe who have contributed more than US$250,000 in their lifetime, more than 10 percent are Taiwanese. Last year, the society donated US$12.95 million (nearly NT$400 million), ranking fifth worldwide, for various charitable causes such as fighting polio, providing clean water, supporting education and promoting peace. At its world headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, Rotary International held its own Taiwan Day activities to thank its members from Taiwan for their longtime engagement.

Noting that Taiwan is an important ally, Rotary International District Governor Pedro Cevallos said when TECO Director General Eric Huang approached him for the Taiwan Day project, they easily reached a conclusion. Launching the cooperation with Taiwan from Rotary One, the club’s beginnings, would be even more significant.

Therefore, the story of this day will continue. When we see foreign nationals in Taiwan quietly contribute to our society, we are always particularly moved. Likewise, warm-hearted, friendly Taiwanese people use Taiwan’s competitive strengths – be it hard power or soft power - to assist others. The rays of hope that they generate not only cast a bright light on them, they also light up many dark corners around the world.

Translated by Susanne Ganz
Edited by Sharon Tseng

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CommonWealth Magazine began its advocacy of corporate social responsibility in 1994, and in the coming years since, CSR has gradually grown in importance to companies, investors and society. In recognition of that trend, CommonWealth created the website "CSR@CommonWealth" in 2017 to highlight the most forward-looking CSR visions and ideas and create a CSR platform that can help build a better world.