STUF United Fund yesterday held its International Filantrop Award ceremony to recognize outstanding achievements by people with disabilities in culture and arts.
The non-profit organization (NPO) named the winners of the 2020 Filantrop Award, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lee Shang-Hsuan (李尚軒) won the top prize in piano and percussion, and Chiu Yen-hsuan (邱彥暄) won second prize in reed pipe.
Photo: Lee I-chia, Taipei Times
Lin Yi-Shan (林儀珊) placed first in dance performance.
The non-profit STUF United Fund yesterday held a dinner banquet in Taipei to introduce its latest charity programs.
The event was attended by more than 200 participants, including Saint Lucia Ambassador Robert Lewis, Somaliland Representative Mohamed Hagi, Polish Office in Taipei Director Cyryl Kozaczewski, former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) and several legislators.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan donated more than 50 million masks and medical devices to healthcare workers and the public in more 80 countries, Chen said.
It also shared its disease prevention experiences with other countries, showing that “Taiwan can help, and Taiwan is helping,” he said.
Members of the private sector have also played an important role in providing resources to those in need around the world he added.
STUF, which stands for “Share, Trust, Unity and Family,” has been an international charity platform over the past 13 years, achieving outstanding results in various projects, Chen said.
The fund was established in 2009 as a non-profit organization in the US by Taiwanese entrepreneurs.
It has connected global non-profit organizations, the corporate sector, government agencies and UN agencies in conducting charity projects, including disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, education and culture, public health and environmental protection, its Web site says.
It has carried out charity projects in 33 countries on five continents, and the UN Economic and Social Council granted it Special Consultative Status in 2016, it says.
It has also raised funds to help people affected by disasters, including the 2008 floods in Taiwan, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Hurricane Sandy in New York in 2012, the 2016 Tainan earthquake and last year’s Taroko Express train crash in Hualien County, the fund said.
During the pandemic, it donated nearly 70,000 masks to hospitals in 22 US cities, provided emergency food support to rural communities in Peru, donated oxygen concentrators to India and Indonesia, and provided isolation testing booths and protective equipment to healthcare workers in Taiwan, the fund added.
In June last year, the organization launched the STUF Coding International (SCI) Project to eliminate inequality and promote social mobility by making science, technology, engineering, arts, design and mathematics education more accessible, it said.
The program also aims to teach children in underserved communities computer programing to provide them with the skills they would need in the workplace, it added.
The fund in October last year also worked with the Taiwan Africa International Service Association to launch the SCI Project in Kenya, signed an agreement with Helping Overcome Obstacles Peru and opened coding classes in Peru this year.
It also signed an agreement with the Saint Lucian Ministry of Education and started training courses in February.
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