Lantern sales at an annual bazaar held by the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families’ Changhua City branch hit an eight-year low, with organizers attributing low turnout to 2019 novel coronavirus fears.
The bazaar, which ends today, reported about NT$70,000 (US$2,324) in sales at a stall at the city’s Carrefour, representing a 70 percent drop from last year, while sales at a stall in Sanmin Market fell 60 percent compared with the previous year, the organization said yesterday.
As of yesterday, sales at stalls nationwide stood at about NT$1.8 million, down 45 percent from last year’s NT$3.1 million, it said.
Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times
Since 2013, the fund’s local branches have sold lanterns leading up to the Lantern Festival, with proceeds going to the education and healthcare of children from disadvantaged families, branch director Wang Chen-kuang (王震光) said.
This year, people are avoiding going outdoors due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has negatively affected all 40 stalls set up by the fund nationwide, he said.
At some stalls, volunteers sometimes outnumbered customers, he added.
A person who passed by the branch’s stall at the intersection of Changhua’s Siaoyang and Minzu roads dropped a NT$1,000 bill in the donation box without taking a lantern, which moved volunteers working at the stall, Wang said.
The bazaar’s revenue typically amounts to about NT$3 million nationwide, he said.
Due to the outbreak, people just stayed home or passed by the stalls without stopping, which has made the fund a “victim” of the virus, he said.
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