Boosting immunity has been a relevant topic since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. This year, China Development Foundation (hereinafter the Foundation) will continue to commit NT$5mn into its “Nutrition 100” program that subsidizes lunches for small-sized primary/secondary schools with fewer than 100 students and in remote locations. The Foundation encourages qualified schools to submit applications to the Foundation no later than April 30th.
One of the sponsored schools, Dongguang Elementary School in Nantou County, is set in remote mountains. The majority of parents work part-time or in agriculture, which fails to provide families with stable income. Although all primary/secondary schools are granted waivers for school lunches, schools in remote areas, particularly those with fewer than 50 students, still face challenges in providing students with quality fruits and dairy products due to their small student number and geographic limitations. With funding from “Nutrition 100” in 2019, Dongguang Elementary School was able to upgrade its meal plan by improving the quality of fruits provided and serving fruit more frequently, as well as serving milk once a week.
Mr. Lin, a teacher, and director of the school lunch program of Luocu Elementary School in Changhua County, said that “the school barely broke even on lunch funding due to increasing lunch staff salaries as well as flat government subsidies. The school has been seeking external funding and the “Nutrition 100” project has offered timely support. ” Luocu Elementary School is a first-time applicant for the program.
China Development Foundation has responded to the call of the United Nations’ SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) to achieve no poverty, zero hunger and good health and well-being for children. As primary/secondary school children are at a vital stage of development, the Foundation has made nutrition funding for less-privileged school children an integral ESG strategy. The Foundation has run the “Nutrition 100” program since 2006, with accumulative funding totaling NT$80mn, and with more than 10,000 students benefiting from the project each year.
