When the Lunar New Year is on the horizon, households far and wide are excited about welcoming in the new year. However, many elderly residents live all by themselves; not only do they not have family that will join them to celebrate the Spring Festival’s events, they also do not have plates full of delicious Chinese New Year delicacies like so many of us enjoy. Therefore, in order to make sure that the district’s elderly residents living in one-person households were able to feel the warmth of their community, on the morning of January 23, Tainan City’s Anding District Chief Liu Shih-Hsiung led a team of officers from different villages that delivered Chinese New Year food to these elderly residents, making sure that they too were able to enjoy scrumptious food, take in the happy spirit of the Lunar New Year, and feel that their community cares for them.
The district office made sure recipients had one soup and one dessert, which were part of the following seven dishes specifically selected for this year: Wuxi fried spare ribs, braised conpoy (dried scallops) and lion’s heads (pork meatballs), eight-treasure rice pudding made with egg yolk and shiitake mushrooms, mini Buddha jumps over the wall, roasted chicken with chestnuts, sanbei king oyster mushrooms, and dragon eye congee with purple rice and adzuki beans. All this delicious food was put into vacuum-sealed packaging, and, under the leadership of District Chief Liu, village officers personally delivered these dishes to the one-person households of elderly residents before the Chinese New Year. In addition to chatting with them about their daily lives, District Chief Liu also showed concern for these senior citizens by advising them to stay warm, look after their own health, and if they ever need assistance to immediately contact the district office. The elderly people enjoyed the lively atmosphere, as what they need the most is people to keep them company and care for them. Just like one big family, the team and elderly residents were able to relax and enjoy the happy atmosphere.
District Chief Liu stated that this charity activity, where Anding District’s elderly residents who live in one-person households are gifted Chinese New Year food, is already in its third year, and that these senior citizens are very fond of this gesture. The district has considered that, because of transportation-related inconveniences and/or lifestyle habits, some elderly people living by themselves are not very willing to leave the house to eat with others. This Chinese New Year food, however, is easy to preserve because it can be refrigerated, and so they can take it out of the refrigerator whenever they’re hungry. This year continued to use food preparation methods employed in the past, making it easy for residents to eat the delicious food, as all they needed to do was put it in the microwave or double boil it. It may only be a one-time delivery of Chinese New Year food, but the district hopes this generous act will ensure that these senior citizens won’t feel lonely. Everybody contributing their love and care not only warmed the bellies of these elderly residents living all by themselves, as it also warmed their hearts—because when there’s love amongst the people there will be warmth everywhere.
Contact: Anding District Office, Social Affairs Section, Lin Yi-yin, Phone: 5921116 Ext. 129