Recently, World Vision Taiwan announced plans to raise 80 million TWD (US $2,352,941) for its “Spreading Love through Red Envelopes to Help Education” campaign. Funds collected from the campaign will go towards supporting scholarships, providing school transportation, and funding home education for impoverished children in Taiwan.
According to World Vision Taiwan, many children growing up in poverty do not have proper education because they lack sufficient funds. Subsequently, sources say, many impoverished children stop schooling prematurely. Though sponsors’ support is available, many do not cover the full cost of tuition.
In 2001, World Vision Taiwan started the “Thousand-Dollar Education Support to Spread Love Through Red Envelopes” campaign in hopes of addressing this issue. The following year, World Vision Taiwan started the “Love in Taiwan’s Education” campaign to provide elementary school, high school, and city college students funds enough to cover for registration fees, tuitions, and living expenses. World Vision Taiwan reported that through this action, many students had better chances in graduating with a higher education.
Xui-Lin Kuo, Section Chief of the World Vision Support Development Center, commented that this year’s “Spreading Love …” campaign will provide a quarterly scholarship amount of 2,500 TWD (US $73) per student receiving pre-school, elementary, and junior-high school education. He added that the donations will provide 5,000 TWD (US $147) per high school student, 10,000 TWD (US $1428) per city-college student, and 2,000 TWD (US $58) per overseas student. School transportation costs, Kuo said, will be divided according to each family’s condition.
A World Vision Taiwan spokesman reported that around 7 thousand to 2 million people supported such this year’s fundraising movement. He commented, “World Vision hopes that through these…[generous] actions, the future of over 3 million students can be shaped properly. If…each person gives out a small amount to show a more compassionate heart, the world would become a better place.”
