Share Love through Suspended Meals

By Chen, Pin-hua（陳品樺）, Hu, Fan（胡凡）

As the saying goes, ’’Eating is the top priority for most Chinese.’’ However, in an advanced society like Taiwan, there still are people struggling for food. Therefore, some organizations and vendors started to spread the idea of suspended meals for those in need so they can have a place to eat and rest.

Yan, Wei -hsun（顏維勳）, the initiator of suspended meals in Xing Shan noodle shop（顏林蔭行善麵店）, is also the key man of promoting the suspended meals mechanism in Taiwan. Yan says, ‘‘when I was young, my mom was disappointed by me.’’ After he had a second chance to take his life back, he started to consider helping others. It was his daughter that gave him the idea of suspended meal. “I’ve made efforts to help people through suspended meals for five years. Having a variety of experiences in helping others,” Yan says. Through a bowl of noodle, I know that there are still people that need our love.” Then, Yan would visit them one by one to see if they need any support.

Apart from being the initiator of suspended meals, Yan is also the president of Cheng Tian Temple（承天府）. In the last five years, Yan has visited almost every orphanage in Taiwan. He wanted to share the love and affection for those children. Though he spends alomost every moment o f his life on charity work, Yan isn’t satisfied yet. ‘’Knowing more reminds me that I could have done more.’’ He knows his next step and he is also taking it. All he pursues is that everyone in Taiwan can live a delightful life.

 

As we know, most restaurants provide suspended meals which people pay for in advance. At the same time, some restaurants change the practice and offer suspended meals with their own money.

In collaboration with Taiwan Fund for Children and Families（財團法人台灣兒童暨家庭扶助基金）, 211 restaurants acorss Taiwan support the cause and each provides 10 suspended meal every day. Zhongzheng steamed stuffed bun shop（中正包子專賣店） is one of them. Zhou, Shi-hua （周世華）, the owner of the bun shop(中正包子專賣店）, said “In 2013, I first heard about the cause and in 2014 I have started to offer suspended meals.” Because Zhou, Shi-hua’s two sisters got the help from Taiwan Fund for Children and Families（財團法人台灣兒童暨家庭扶助基金）when they were in need and he was happy to help others, Zhou, Shi-hua （周世華）immediately agreed to join the cause and decided to give each person two buns. But the progress was not as smooth as expected. In the first few months, almost no one came to take the buns. Obviously, many people didn’t think two buns were worth the money or the hassle. “So I change the rule and give people in need ten buns each time”, said Zhou, Shi-hua （周世華）. The new measure was effective. Nowadays, some people take the buns from his shop regularly.

Zhou, Shi-hua’s behavior also influences people around him. Some customers noticed the sign of suspended meal and insisted on donating money for this cause.

Because of these people’s kindness, providing suspended meal will likely continue in Taiwan. A single spark can start a prairie fire. We hope this cause can last forever to help people in need.