Since its establishment more than 30 years ago, Eastern Group has been upholding the spirit of “others are about business, we are about public welfare”. For New Taipei City, where Eastern Group is located, we are committed to the concept of “giving back to the local community” and have long cooperated with the New Taipei City Government. To support New Taipei City’s “Good Day of Love Platform”, we have made donations of over NT$1 million every year. Last Lunar New Year, Eastern donated pomfret fish to symbolize the Lunar New Year blessing “may there be prosperity year after year”, and also donated the proceeds of NT$500,000 from the Happiness Market charity sale. We add another event to last year’s Double 12 shopping festival for public welfare. Eastern organized the “Food and Love Charity Drive 1212” for Double 12, where in the name of Eckare, we donated NT$1 million in cash and NT$500,000 in resources to help the disadvantaged families registered with the Department of Social Welfare in New Taipei City and the stray animals of New Taipei City.

We invited Grandma Huang, who receives assistance from the Social Welfare Center for Zhonghe and Yonghe, to this year’s event. Grandma Huang and her husband are helping their single-parent daughter take care of their two grandsons who are mentally disabled and developmentally delayed. However, Grandma Huang has terminal cirrhosis of the liver and Grandpa Huang can only take on temporary jobs after his stroke, and the enormous living expenses and medical bills nearly broke the family. Grandma Huang was especially grateful to Eastern for providing her with a Lunar New Year gift box and emergency fund to bring warmth and a little relief to her family’s lives.

President Gary Wang of ETMall and Eckare said that Eastern Group has been dedicated to public welfare for many years, and has contributed all across Taiwan. For New Taipei City, where the Group is located, we are particularly close to the people and the local community, and we have responded to and cooperated with the New Taipei City Government in various programs every year. With businesses and the city government working together to care for disadvantaged families and stray animals, Eastern hopes to send love to disadvantaged families so that they can enjoy a happy Lunar New Year together. Chairman Gary Wang of Eckare emphasized that “the power of businesses is limited, but the power of society is unlimited”. In the past 20 years, Eastern has never stopped working for public welfare, including helping children in remote areas, sponsoring scholarships, caring for the elderly, and donating long-term care vehicles. In addition, when the donations and fundraising of many social welfare organizations became affected by the pandemic, Eastern took on a leading role and used the power of media and sales platforms to fulfill its corporate social responsibility and help the disadvantaged groups overcome these difficult times. In September last year, we joined hands with the Taiwan Foundation for the Blind in New Taipei City to sell limited-edition soap sets and gift boxes of tea leaves and dried fruits, and we donated all the proceeds to the Foundation for the Blind so that the staff of the Foundation can have the opportunity to work independently. This time, we hope to show our love through practical actions as the year comes to a close. We call on the public to do their part and pay attention to the needs of the disadvantaged groups during the pandemic prevention period, so that we can overcome the adversities together.

New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-Ih said that the Lunar New Year is the most important traditional festival for the people of Taiwan, where families gather to celebrate together. He thanked Eastern for responding to the “New Taipei City Good Day of Love Platform” every year and expanding its efforts to benefit the community. These acts of love do not only include helping disadvantaged people to enjoy a good Lunar New Year, but also taking care of animal shelters in New Taipei City, so that families and animals in need can have many good days to come in New Taipei City.

The Lunar New Year gift sets donated this year include the “Full of Fortune Calamari Balls Set” and the “Splendid Homeland Tasty Treasures Gift Box”. The contents included calamari balls, rice, a jar of black tea leaves, honey, Hunan-style sauce, and fish in black bean sauce. The gift sets were delivered to disadvantaged families around New Taipei City to help these families enjoy a splendid Lunar New Year full of great fortunes. There was also an additional NT$1 million donation in cash, of which NT$500,000 will be used as an emergency relief fund for disadvantaged families in Zhonghe and Yonghe districts. The other NT$500,000 will be used by the Animal Protection Office of the Council of Agriculture to purchase harnesses and a hydrotherapy treadmill. The harnesses can be used by old dogs over the age of 10, and the hydrotherapy treadmill can help rehabilitate old dogs with limb degeneration, reduce medical expenses, and increase the adoption rate. Eastern is happy to respond to New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-Ih’s call for charitable works. For example, Eastern has sponsored the year-end banquet organized by the Department of Social Welfare and Juang Jing Vocational High School two years in a row. This year, Eastern sponsored 100 sets of turkey dinners and provided sales platforms at no cost to help raise funds for the Taiwan Foundation for the Blind. In addition, ETMall launched the Eastern Farm program in order to support small farmers, and Mayor Hou also personally came on the program to promote the delicious sweet potatoes from Jinshan. All of these acts of charity represent the passion for public welfare and love for the local community held by Chairman Gary Wang and Mayor Hou Yu-Ih.