MARKETPLACE OFFERS FREE USED CLOTHING FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED|免費商場提供捐助物資 千件冬衣3週內拿光

Even in southern Taiwan, the winter can be a little bit harsh without enough clothes to keep you warm. In Pingtung City, part of an amusement park was turned into a marketplace for people to donate and receive used clothing, free of charge. Within three weeks, more than 1000 pieces of winter clothing were given out. The organizers said that they were surprised by the large turnout and said that the situation faced by the underprivileged in the city may be more serious than what people imagined. Volunteers dressed up mannequins, it looks like a market, but it is not. The space is filled up with nearly five thousand clothes, they are not for sale, they are free for the needy. ==LOCAL RESIDENT== There are still some...Kaohsiung still have some live-alone seniors. If you offer some beautiful clothes for them to wear, they should be very happy. This local resident came to pick up some clothes for the lonely seniors live in the neighborhood. Those clothes were donated by the public, some are used and some are brand new. The square is named the Free Square, all needy persons can come and pick up what they want, no question asked. ==FREE MARKETPLACE VOLUNTEER== We hosted event like this in 2013, we served low and mid income households. Later we changed the course due to Taiwan's discordance. We decided to open it to anyone in need. The Free Square located in Pingtung and started operation in December. Within three weeks, over one thousand clothes were picked up and gone. ==FREE SQUARE VOLUNTEER== These days have been cold, all of our clothes were picked up especially the clothes for children. It is until now that we realize how bad the situation is to the minority groups live in cities. It's much more serious than what we imagined. Volunteers said, the economic downturn caused more people in need. Those volunteers will continue to collect more clothes for the needy. They hope in the future more people will participate in offering feedback to the society. TRANSLATED BY：ANTHONY LIN 志工幫人型模特兒穿上衣服，場地佈置得像賣場，但往裡面走，有點隱密的鐵皮屋裡，掛滿近五千件衣服，只送不賣。 ==民眾== 還是有些 高雄還是有 某些都有獨居老人的 如果有個漂亮的衣服給他們穿 他們應該會很開心 原來這些衣服都是外界捐贈的，有二手，也有新衣，外面佈置得像賣場，名稱也叫做免費賣場，其實要讓有需要的民眾安心拿取，不過問身分。 ==免費賣場志工== 2013年的時候(辦過) 我們給的是低收入跟中低 但是後來的話 整個台灣社會和諧度不夠 我們就把它擴及到全面性 大家都可以來拿 賣場位在屏東市，12月起成立免費商場做為物資平台，但才三個禮拜，一千多件冬衣就被拿光。 ==免費賣場志工== 這幾天因為寒流來襲 我們的衣服都被拿完了 尤其小朋友冬衣都已經沒有了 我們才發現到說 都市的弱勢群體 可能比我們想像中還要嚴重 志工認為，景氣不佳，導致需求民眾多，但他們會持續募物資，希望受惠的人越多，未來會有越多人懂得回饋社會。 記者 王介村 陳顯坤 屏東報導