Snack packages that I-Mei Foods is planning to send to Lithuania to express Taiwan’s gratitude for the donation of COVID-19 vaccines are to have a special design incorporating the national flags of the two countries, the food manufacturer told the Central News Agency on Monday.
The boxes, containing milk, strawberry and chocolate puffs, would bear the outline of Taiwan in green and a speech bubble with the words: “Thanks, Lithuania,” in English and Lithuanian, it said.
The speech bubble would also contain the crossed national flags of Taiwan and Lithuania at the top, and a white heart cupped in two hands at the bottom, I-Mei chief executive officer Luis Kao (高志明) said.
Photo: Yang Ya-min, Taipei Times
The packages, a thank-you gesture for 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that Lithuania pledged to donate to Taiwan by the end of September, would be shipped by the end of this month, he said.
On June 23, one day after Lithuania announced the donation, I-Mei said it would send 21,600 boxes of puffs in a 20-foot container to the Baltic country as a gift.
The Taiwanese public has also been showing appreciation to Lithuania, including through monetary donations to charitable institutions in the country, particularly after Jill Chang (張瀞仁), a philanthropy adviser to the international nonprofit organization Give2Asia, issued a call on social media.
Krizinio Nestumo Centras, a Lithuanian charity that mainly supports disadvantaged pregnant women, said that it received 1,928 donations totaling US$135,000 from Taiwanese from June 23 to Wednesday last week.
Krizinio Nestumo Centras acting head Simona Nevieriene said that it was the first time since the charity’s foundation in 2013 that it received donations from Taiwan.
The charity usually receives US$20,000 per year via donation platforms, she added.
Another Lithuanian charity, Childhood Cancer Fund Rugute, said that it received 25,000 euros (US$29,647) in donations from June 23 to Friday last week.
Rugute cofounder Edita Abrukauskiene thanked Taiwanese donors, saying that she was moved by the donations for the benefit of Lithuanian children with cancer.
Mamu Unija, a Lithuanian organization that supports families with children who have cancer, said that it received donations totaling about US$50,000 last month, compared with its usual donation income of about US$300 per month.
“This should be credited to the Taiwanese people,” Mamu Unija executive director Justina Zukauskiene said.
More than 1,000 Taiwanese thanked Lithuania via Twitter within two hours after the country announced its vaccine donation.
“Thanks for your generosity,” one Taiwanese Twitter user wrote.
“I will cheer for Lithuanian athletes in the Tokyo Olympic Games,” another said.
Some Taiwanese social media users said that they would visit Lithuania when the COVID-19 pandemic eases, while many others have been ordering Lithuanian foods and beverages from online retailers, some of which have attached messages of appreciation to the orders.
RUTA Taiwan, which sells chocolate made in Lithuania, said it had to temporarily suspend online orders due to high demand.
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