A Taipei church has been giving groceries and daily necessities to migrant workers and international students since last month, helping them through the COVID-19 pandemic, a priest at the church said yesterday.
The event, which is held every Monday at Taipei’s Saint Christopher’s Church and is to run until the end of July, allows migrant workers and students to select from metal racks fresh vegetables, rice, frozen meat and fish, canned fish and tea.
Also available on the church benches are dried noodles and snacks, as well as tissue paper, wet wipes and other household necessities.
The groceries are being given away because many international students have been unable to find jobs to support themselves during the pandemic, Father Gioan Tran Van Thiet said.
“Many restaurants have either closed or reduced the number of workers they have because of COVID-19 and it has had a big impact on the livelihood of the students,” Thiet said.
Anna, a university student from Vietnam who is a volunteer on the program, said that she used to work at a night market to help pay her expenses while studying in Taiwan, but now she has no work due to the pandemic.
Trixie Tao, 22, another student from Vietnam who picked up groceries at the church, said that she has been unable to find a job.
“That is why we don’t have enough money to pay our monthly expenses,” she said.
International students are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week, except during the summer and winter breaks, according to Ministry of Labor regualtions.
The groceries are being paid for by the church’s priests, the Catholic Church’s Daughters of Charity and immigrants who run businesses in Taipei, Thiet said.
To date, more than 80 international students and migrant workers have received free groceries, he said.
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