Prompt Aid Rendered to Typhoon Victims and Affected Animals

On September 19, 2010, Typhoon Fanapi swept across Kaohsiung and Pingtung in southern Formosa accompanied by gale force winds and torrential rains, inundating twenty-one towns and destroying many buildings, including 753 schools. The agricultural sector suffered tremendous losses. Supreme Master Ching Hai immediately provided emergency relief funds and instructed our Association members to help those in need.

Our Association members from Kaohsiung promptly rushed to the Gangshan and Alian areas where the disaster situation was most grave. Assisted by the village chief and police officers, they visited the destitute and affected households in those districts, conveying to them Master’s love and concern as well as giving them relief cash. At the same time, they informed the people of the importance of adopting the vegan diet to mitigate global warming. The recipients were very grateful to Master for Her love and timely aid.

During the typhoon, many animal shelters were also damaged. In Kaohsiung County, the Gangshan Dog Shelter was submerged in four feet of water. That evening Mr. Chen Xue-ren, the person responsible for the dogs, risked his life to rescue single-handedly more than 400 of them, moving them to a much safe place. His bravery and loving action are truly admirable. Our relief team contributed 40 bags of nutritious vegan dog food to this shelter in token of their heartfelt concern for their animal friends.

In the Pingtung area, our Association members, upon learning of the disastrous situation, immediately launched a relief operation in the aboriginal tribal villages in several townships in the county. From September 20 to November 3, with assistance from the Pingtung County Aboriginal Cultural Association, they delivered to the affected region three batches of relief materials that included daily necessities, drinking water and food, distributing them to the people taking temporary shelter in schools or camps. They also sent emergency supplies to 50 households in Yilin and Dahou tribes in Laiyi Township and offered relief cash to 40 households in the Laiyi tribes whose homes were partially destroyed. In addition to expressing gratitude to Master, all the relief recipients prayed to God and Buddha to bless Master with good health and safety so that She could continue to help more people in need.

* 1. Pingtung fellow initiates prepared vegan moon cakes with their own money to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the victims.

2. Throughout the relief operation, the team members paid for their own transportation, food and accommodation.

Expenditures for Charitable and Relief Activities in Formosa
from January to April 2010

Place	Date	Description of Activities	Amount	Appendix
Tainan	Jan. 13	Distributed hot food and winter clothes to homeless people.	14,855	A
Hsinchu	Jan. 14	Distributed winter clothes, food and cash to the homeless, sick people and dependent elderly.	79,795	B
Hualien	Jan. 15	Contributed cash to Hualien County Animal Protection Society.	2,000	C
Hualien	Jan. 16	Distributed sleeping bags to homeless people.	3,204	D
Miaoli	Jan. 18	Supported the Hsihu Township’s “Winter Relief” event by taking care of destitute and needy villagers.	20,000	E
Hualien	Jan. 18	Visited parolees supervised by the Hualien District Prosecution Office, held a soul-elevating seminar, and shared the “Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet” message. Served vegan snacks after the seminar.	2,770	F
Kaohsiung	Jan. 19	Held an “Amoura Photo Exhibition of the Noble Wilds,” advocating respect and protection of animals.	66,598	G
Tainan	Jan. 20	Placed the “Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet!” message on 14 bus routes run by the Tainan Kaohsiung Transportation Co. Ltd.	139,650	H
Tainan	Jan. 20	Visited inmates at Tainan Mingde Labor Prison, conducted environmental seminars, and contributed books. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Keleung	Jan. 23	Offered financial support to destitute households.	9,000	I
Miaoli	Jan. 25	Participated in “Adopt and Maintain Street Lights” campaign initiated by the Hsihu Township Office.	10,000	J
Miaoli	Jan. 25	Contributed cash to Hsihu Township Office to help underprivileged villagers in remote villages pay for their bus fuel, school fees and medical fees.	10,000	K
Yunlin	Jan. 27	Contributed soul-elevating publications to various elementary and junior high schools in Yunlin County. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Tainan	Jan. 28	Visited inmates at Tainan Prison and gave spiritual talks. (Supported by fellow initiates)	0
Tainan	Jan. 31	Organized 38 EP seminars and information sharing activities at various schools in Tainan to support the government’s “Save Energy, Reduce Carbon Emissions, Be Veg, Go Green” campaign. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Taipei	Jan. 31	Visited inmates in Sindian Drug Abuse Treatment Center, gave spiritual talks, taught meditation, and organized English conversation classes and vegetarian cooking classes. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Hualien	Feb. 01	Sponsored a winter feast for the homeless by providing 187 packets of vegan snacks.	7,242	L
Taoyuan	Feb. 06	Contributed living necessities to orphanages, destitute households and elderly people.	38,502	M
Yunlin	Feb. 08	Monetary contribution to provide scholarships for students at Guilin Elementary School, Guhang Township, Yunlin County.	10,000	N
Taichung	Feb. 09	Contributed living necessities to the Mufeng Home for the Physically Challenged, Maria Social Welfare Foundation.	15,003	O
Tainan	Feb. 10	Visited inmates at Tainan Mingde Labor Prison, conducted environmental seminars, and contributed books. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Keelung	Feb. 11	Offered financial support to destitute households.	6,000	P
Taipei	Feb. 11	Visited inmates in the Sindian Drug Abuse Treatment Center, gave spiritual talks, taught meditation, organized English conversation classes and vegetarian cooking classes. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Taipei	Feb. 11	Contributed cash to the Taiwan Dog Rescue Association to improve the wellbeing of the animals.	5,000	Q
Keelung	Feb. 19	Contributed sleeping bags to homeless people.	18,270	R
Keohsiung	Feb. 27	Distributed meal boxes to the homeless during the Lantern Festival.	13,710	S
Tainan	Feb. 27	Visited inmates at Tainan Prison and gave spiritual talks. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Tainan	Feb. 28	Organized EP seminars and information sharing activities at various schools in Tainan to support the government’s “Save Energy, Reduce Carbon Emissions, Be Veg, Go Green” campaign. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Kaohsiung	Mar. 07	Investigated the quake disaster situation in Jiaxian Township and distributed cash to destitute villagers who had lost their houses.	10,000	T
Kaohsiung	Mar. 07	Participated in the March 5 Scouts’ Day Event held in Kaohsiung. Offered vegan food tasting and advocated the Be Vegan to mitigate global warming message at the venue.	4,890	U
Hualien	Mar. 15	Visited parolees supervised by the Hualien District Prosecution Office, held a soul-elevating seminar, and shared the “Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet” message. Served vegan snacks after the seminar.	3,500	V
Tainan	Mar. 17	Visited inmates at Tainan Mingde Labor Prison, conducted spiritual seminars and meditation sessions, and contributed spiritual books. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Hualien	Mar. 17	Visited inmates in Hualien Prison, held a soul-elevating seminar, and shared the “Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the planet” message. Served vegan snacks after the seminar.	2,760	W
Kaohsiung	Mar. 19	Conducted EP seminars and vegan cooking classes at several rural communities in Xiaogang.	6,000	X
Hualien	Mar. 24	Visited inmates in Hualien Prison, held a soul-elevating seminar, and shared the “Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the planet” message. Served vegan snacks after the seminar.	3,168	Y
Tainan	Mar. 25	Visited inmates at Tainan Prison and gave spiritual talks. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Taipei	Mar. 31	Visited inmates in Sindian Drug Abuse Treatment Center, gave spiritual talks, taught meditation, and organized English conversation classes and vegetarian cooking classes. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Tainan	Mar. 31	Organized EP seminars and vegan cooking classes at various schools in 22 communities in Tainan. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Miaoli	Apr. 06	Assisted Hsihu Township Office in directing traffic near the Bone Ash Cemetery during The New Year period. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Keelung	Apr. 12	Organized an EP seminar and vegan food tasting event at Keelung City Hall.	3,854	Z
Taipei	Apr. 13	Participated in “Praying for the Fetus” street event and later contributed cash to the Save the Fetus Foundation.	5,000	Z1
Yilan	Apr. 14	Held an EP seminar and served vegan snacks at Dongshan Junior High School.	9,500	Z2
Tainan	Apr. 17	Cleaned up the beaches as an EP effort. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Hualien	Apr. 19	Visited parolees supervised by Hualien District Prosecution Office, held a soul-elevating seminar, and shared the “Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the planet” message. Served vegan snacks after the seminar.	3,780	Z3
Keelung	Apr. 21	Organized an EP seminar and vegan food tasting event at Keelung Municipal Government Office.	5,019	Z4
Kaohsiung	Apr. 28	Conducted EP seminars and vegan food tasting events at 6 schools in Kaohsiung City.	6,940	Z5
Tainan	Apr. 29	Visited inmates at Tainan Prison and gave spiritual talks. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Taipei	Apr. 29	Visited inmates in Sindian Drug Abuse Treatment Center, gave spiritual talks, taught meditation, and organized English conversation classes and vegetarian cooking classes. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Tainan	Apr. 30	Organized EP seminars and vegan food tasting events at various schools and the Rotary Club in Tainan. (Supported by fellow initiates.)	0
Keelung	Apr. 30	Organized an event at Keelung Cultural Center Square to advocate the message of mitigating global warming with the vegan diet. Served vegan food at the event.	1,889	Z6
Total			NT$537,899

Table 2: Expenditures for Charitable Activities, January to April 2010, Formosa (Currency: NT$)

	January		February		March		April
Place	No. of Households	Amount	No. of Households	Amount	No. of Households	Amount	No. of Households	Amount	Appendix
Taoyuan	1	5,000	1	5,000	1	5,000	1	5,000	1
Hsinchu	2	10,000	─	─	─	─	─	─	2
Miaoli	7	21,000	6	18,000	7	21,000	6	20,000	3
Taichung	1	5,000	1	5,000	1	5,000	1	5,000	4
Chiayi	─	─	3	10,500	─	─	─	─	5
Taitung	─	─	─	─	1	4,000	1	4,000	6
Keelung	─	─	─	─	─	─	3	9,000	7
Monthly Total:	11	$41,000	11	$38,500	10	$35,000	12	$43,000