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The Taipei American School Orphanage Club is a student-run organization founded in 1970 as a result of an invitation by an eleventh grader, Barbara Sharp, to sponsor a Christmas party for the Chung Yi Orphanage children. Since then the club has raised and distributed well over a million dollars US to help various needy and deserving children, and orphans in Taiwan, as well as on the outer islands and overseas.
Currently with over 125 high school and 35 middle school members, the club is the largest student organization at TAS. It consists of fifteen committees run by the twenty officers and committee chairpersons. The money the club raised in the past has been used to support institutions including St. Benedictine Orphanage in Tamshui, Gladys Aylward’s Home, St. Anne’s Orphanage, the Taipei Municipal Welfare Center, the Children’s Christian fund, the Mustard seed Home Foundation, World Vision, and the Lourdes Orphanage. Physically handicapped children, accident victims, children of incarcerated parents, burn victims, foreign and local persons in Taiwan prisons, as well as certain students unable to meet tuition expenses, are among the various individuals who have received Orphanage Club assistance.
The Orphanage Club financially assisted Chang Tze-Chong (Paul Chang), a local student accidentally paralyzed from the waist down during a scoliosis operation. The club supported him as he pursued his education in Taiwan and later in the United States where he finished his second Master’s degree at Cal State Los Angeles before returning to Taiwan in 2000 to teach in Puli.
The club also makes annual donations to the Pearl S. Buck Foundation in Taipei and hosts an annual Christmas party for over two hundred children sponsored by the organization. At Chinese New Year the neediest twenty-five families that are designated by the director of the PSB Foundation receive parcels of food and other holiday necessities weighing about twenty kilos. In addition, for over a decade all profits from Hallmark sales that the club sponsors throughout the year are donated to support Marjorie Bly, a registered nurse who has been assisting leprosy patients in the Pescadores Islands for over four decades.
To support these organizations and needy individuals, the Orphanage Club conducts various fundraising projects throughout the year. Students sell TAS T-shirts and sweatshirts, Hallmark items, and hold various games of chance at fairs and bazaars to earn money. The club’s largest fundraising project is the annual Raffle drawing. Over two hundred prizes are donated for the raffle; they include appliances, bicycles, toys, computers, and lots more. A silent auction was added three years ago. Recently through the kindness of Alison Davis, the Taipei director of the House of Lloyds, the club has raised thousands of dollars from the items she donated.
Hunger Day, held twice a year to make the TAS community aware of issues involving hunger and to raise money, has been an important Orphanage Club project for over two decades. Teachers, students, administrators, staff members, plus parents are encouraged to fast and to donate money that is donated to Oxfam America, American Friends Service, and World Vision Taiwan.
Moreover, the club donates clothing, toys, books, and tools to Tze-Chi, a Buddhist organization dedicated to helping those in need. An annual project is the packing and mailing of more than a ton of individually wrapped family packages containing clothing and toiletries for deserving people on Orchid Island. For Christmas, students pop many large bags of popcorn for the residents of that outer island.
During the recent years, typhoons have damaged Orchid Island. As a result, the club has annually donated over a ton of rice, cooking oil, and soy sauce to assist the islanders’ recovery.
After the earthquake in 1999, the club donated one million NT dollars to the Puli Christian Hospital. Later is also set up a fund at the institution to which it will contribute 105,000 NT annually to assist aborigine children. The club recently made its annual donation to that fund.
The members of the club hold monthly outings for the children of Chung Yi Orphanage. Those Sunday outings take place at different locations including TAS, swimming pools, amusement parks, theatres, bowling alleys, skating rinks, or exhibitions. Each outing also includes a nutritious hot meal. Another popular activity is going to the Catholic Welfare’s orphanage in Kuandu for one Saturday each month to take care of the babies and to tutor and play with the boys. The members also provide baby food, diapers, baby carriages, and other requested items. Especially welcomed is the 2,000 NT worth of fruit that the members deliver every month.
Another Orphanage Club commitment is the Blind School Tutoring project in which students volunteer every Friday night from 6:30 to 8:00 to teach English to middle and high school students attending the Taipei Municipal School for the Blind. Other TAS students are continuing tutoring elementary school blind students from 4:00 until 5:00 every Thursday.
In addition to helping people in Taiwan, the Orphanage Club also aids needy people overseas. The club supports a little boy, Mario Ischcoy, in Guatemala through Holt International at US$300 annually. During the past four years the club has donated over US$20,000 to assist children in Zimbabwe and Kenya whose parents have died of AIDS. Two years ago, earthquake victims in Turkey received a donation of US$1,000.
During Chinese New Year this year the club arranged a US$400 donation to an Australian orphanage in Cambodia. The faculty member who introduced the project to the club also took donated clothing and soap to the children at the Australian-Cambodian Foundation.
The students who contribute countless hours to improving the lives of orphans, needy families, and others deserving assistance have been successful because of the support of many companies and caring individuals in Taiwan, including their parents. The Taipei American School Orphanage Club salutes those businesses, individuals, and organization whose support has allowed the club to grow into such an important organization in the lives of thousands of people. Just saying “Thank You” seems inadequate, but we mean it from the bottom of our hearts. We invite you to visit our webpage that includes our history, up-coming events, and other information regarding our various projects at http://come.to/tasoc.
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