The Child Welfare League Foundation yesterday said it is hoping to raise NT$18 million (US$580,600) for children from disadvantaged families, money it plans to use to sponsor summer camps, provide meals and subsidize tuition next semester.
A survey released by the foundation yesterday indicates that many children from disadvantaged families might find the two-month summer vacation not only a period of monotony, but hunger — as their families often cannot afford to provide any holiday recreation or replace the free school lunches they receive at school.
The foundation conducted a poll between January and February this year of 866 children from disadvantaged families in Taiwan.
According to the results, 36 percent of the children surveyed said that during the winter and summer vacations they were not able to eat lunch every day, and 12 percent said the meals they were given were often leftovers.
In addition, the daily meal expenses of 27 percent of the children averaged less than NT$100; 56 percent were often alone at home and 32 percent had to prepare their own meals.
Children from many low-income families are sometimes expected to help with family tasks when they are not at school: Of the respondents 57 percent said they must help out with household chores, 31 percent said they had to look after their younger brothers.
Calling on the public to make generous donations, the foundation said that they hope to benefit 3,000 children in this summer’s campaign.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost