Village project provides elderly with a healthy diet

On January 3, 2017, the first senior citizen’s canteen in Chiayi County’s Zhuchi Township opened. Thanks to the hard work of Community Director Li Ming-tang (李明堂) and Village Secretary Xu Ming-rui (許明瑞), around 50 village elders participated in the opening ceremony in Duan Xu Village. The main backer of the senior citizen’s canteen, Mr. Li Zhen-yuan (李振源), who got involved in the project after moving home to Taiwan from abroad, hopes to provide elderly villagers with healthy meals twice a day, five days a week. 

In order to cover the financial burden of the canteen, elderly people over the age of 65 who wish to participate in the scheme pay a mere NT$40 per meal to cover food costs. A great boon for many elderly people who cook on their own and for those who find it difficult to get about, the scheme has also raised sufficient funds to ensure its stability. The biggest challenge for the senior citizen’s canteen is a shortage of volunteers and at present, the community director has taken the responsibility of delivering the food. However, in order to be able to extend the service to those living in the village’s outlying mountainous areas of Hongnan Keng and Zhangnao Liao, more volunteers will be needed.

Village project provides elderly with a healthy diet

URL：https://www.peopo.org/news/327905

(以下是中文對照)

老厝邊，我要你吃的健康

106年1月3日，嘉義縣竹崎鄉第一個老人食堂開幕了，在緞繻社區理事長李明堂及村幹事許明瑞的奔走下，約50位村內的長者參加。國外返鄉的李振源先生是老人食堂的最大支持者，他希望每週5天，一天2餐的方式讓老厝邊吃的健康。

老人食堂採部份負擔的概念，參與的65歲以上長者一餐自付40元菜食成本，對自己煮食或行動不便的老人幫助許多，經費籌募也充足穩定。老人食堂目前永續經營最大的挑戰是志工人手的不足，現在鄰近聚落由社區理事長每天前往送便當，但送便當服務卻難以擴充服務到住在緞繻村紅南坑、樟腦寮等較為山區聚落的長者，需要更多志工加入。