The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, along with the Inland Chinese Association (ICA), jointly held an orange picking charity event on April 13th (Saturday) and donated $3,000 to support the “Shoes for Kids” fund. The donation ceremony was witnessed by Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and Japanese-American Congressman representing the 39th Congressional District, Mark Takano, and California State Assemblymember representing the 50th District, Eloise Reyes.
Director General Ji Qin-yao of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office stated that their office has been participating in ICA’s orange picking charity event and supporting the “Shoes for Kids” program since 2019. Nearly 40 colleagues and their families from the office, as well as members of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Advisory Committee of the Republic of China, the President of the Los Angeles Overseas Community Emergency Assistance Association, Liu Huan-jun, and some local community groups participated in the event, showcasing the love from Taiwan to mainstream American society.
Ji Qin-yao expressed his gratitude to Mark Takano for his long-standing support for Taiwan in the U.S. Congress and looked forward to future cooperation and prosperity between Taiwan and the U.S. in various fields.
Mark Takano highly praised ICA for their years of assistance to disadvantaged communities. He has visited Taiwan twice, including accompanying then-Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, on their historic visit to Taiwan in August 2022. Through these visits, he gained a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s importance in regional security, democratic values, and high-tech supply chains. Takano emphasized that Taiwan is a beacon of democracy in Asia and produces over 90% of the world’s advanced chips, thus reaffirming his support for U.S. assistance in Taiwan’s self-defense.
Takano appreciated the collaboration between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office and Taiwanese-American community organizations in contributing to improving the lives of underprivileged residents in the local community. He highlighted the importance of equality and service in community relationships, stating that ICA’s charitable actions exemplify these values and evoke genuine emotions.
ICA President Julian Hsieh mentioned that the orange picking charity event has entered its eighth year and has become an annual grand event for the inland Chinese community. Funds raised each year are used to assist needy groups in the community, such as purchasing school bags and shoes for low-income families in school districts.
ICA has also established a special charity fund to help impoverished families in other regions, such as purchasing learning materials for low-income students in the San Bernardino school district. Hsieh expressed his desire to expand the scale of donation activities in the future and noted that ICA has also established the “Inland Emergency Assistance Association,” planning to provide assistance to victims of domestic violence in 2024, fulfilling the role of the association in caring not only for adults but also for children.
The orange picking charity event was held at the orange grove of the former ICA president, Liao Ri-shan. According to former ICA president Li En-ching, the grove has about 500 orange trees, providing a fun experience for visitors to pick oranges in addition to fundraising. Li En-ching stated that the impact of the charity event continues to grow, attracting participants not only from Orange County and San Diego but also from even farther places.
During the event, a donation ceremony was held with representatives from the largest Latino advocacy group in the U.S., the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Riverside Chapter, former President Yolanda Esquivel, and the largest farmworker representative group in the Inland Empire with over 400,000 members, Training Occupational Development Educating Communities (TODEC) President Luz Gallegos.
Esquivel and Gallegos expressed their gratitude to the Inland Chinese Association and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office for their donation of shoes to underprivileged children and also thanked Taiwan for providing masks, hand sanitizers, alcohol, and other epidemic prevention supplies to the community during the local epidemic period, saving the lives of thousands of residents. ◇