The National Youth Commission recently launched a program that it hopes will inject vitality into the nation’s aging rural townships with the help of local colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations.
The commission will provide subsidies to academic institutions and civic groups to set up service centers operated by young volunteers in the townships and provide services needed by local communities, the commission said in a statement.
The commission said it had selected 12 of 368 townships nationwide as targets for the program.
Among them were Fusing (復興) in Taoyuan County, Dongyin (東引) in Lienchiang County, Dali (大里) in Taichung County, Sihu (四湖) in Changhua County and Jhushan (竹山) in Nantou County.
Colleges, universities and nonprofit civic groups are all welcome to apply for the up to NT$800,000 in subsidies that will go to paying for people to plan the center, the commission said.
The money will also help cover travel expenses, administrative costs, volunteer training and publicity, it said.
The centers will run for a period of 16 months, between next month and December next year, it said.
The planners’ tasks will include initiating volunteer service projects based on local needs, developing links with local facilities manned by young volunteers and outlining volunteer training programs.
National Youth Commission Minister Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) said she hopes the creation of the service centers will attract young blood to revitalize their hometowns and boost local development.
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