GIS Deliver Love with Backpacks “Small Backpacks of Great Dignity”
Chinese Fund for Children and Families/Taiwan, a domestic fund that studies the issue of poor children, published the “Disadvantaged Children Learning Resource Survey” in 2020. As investigated, there are 62.6% among 69.6% of disadvantaged children having a spending of less than NT$500 on school supplies each month. In 2022, 60% of children never owned any books, and over 90% of children have less than NT$600 funding to purchase books each semester.
Based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the effects of “poverty” on children are unsatisfaction of basic needs and may affect their paths of self-realization. Social Capital Theory (Coleman, 1988) specifies that properties, human resources in the family environment, and social capital deeply affect the learning achievements of students. In general, the higher the family capital, the better the children’s learning achievements. While disadvantaged children have relatively weak family capital, the chances to get rid of poverty decrease relatively, and the sense of deprivation increases relatively, including the lack of material life and supplies and the loss of a decent living chance (i.e., difficult life and loss of self-esteem and confidence).
Since the establishment of the GIS Social Welfare Foundation (the “Foundation”) in 2016, it has been adopting “Loving Taiwan and Caring for Our Next Generation” as the purpose. Since the establishment, we have been providing Christmas gifts to children from disadvantaged families for seven years. On the list of self-desire, there are toys, cookies, and candies. We even purchased brand-new clothes for the Chinese New Year. However, we also provided school supplies (backpacks, colored pens, and meal bags) that seem to be necessities for students for over 20 packages on average each year, the application reasons for which were primarily the economic factors of families; students often continue to use such supplies in the old and damaged status.
According to the children:
“I have been using my current backpack since kindergarten and up to now, and it is old and damaged (2020 Christmas Gift No. 71)
The biggest hope of the applicant is to have his/her mother’s mental state become better, and he/she only wishes for a compass (2020 Christmas Gift No. 98)
As there are multiple siblings, it is often unable to purchase supplies required by us at any time (2021 Christmas Gift No. 94)
My backpack is old and a little bit broken, and I wish to have a new bag (2021 Christmas Gift No. 59)
The income from part-time jobs can only support living expenses; therefore, there is no budget for purchasing a backpack (2021 Christmas Gift No. 46)”
Among 17 SDGs in the “2030 SDGs” proposed by the UN in 2015, social welfare provided by the Foundation also complies with “No Poverty,””Good Health And Well-Being,” and “Reduced Inequalities.” Extending from the “Small Wishes” Christmas Gift Program to the “Deliver Love with Backpacks” event, we wish to reduce the sense of deprivation for children due to poverty. Through the application for backpacks, we allow backpacks and school supplies to be delivered to children with needs so as to mitigate difficulties in going to school, form a positive flow, and improve the sense of happiness of children in need.
A total of 250 children's backpacks were donated, of which 150 were donated to Ren’ai Township, which was severely damaged by Typhoon Khanun, and the other 100 were distributed to local children with economic disadvantage in Miaoli.
