Charities host 2,200 tables for disadvantaged banquet / 慈善團體府前辦尾牙 席開2200桌助弱勢　　　　　　　　　　

A total of 2,200 tables were set up at the Katagalan Boulevard by charitable organizations to host a "weiya" which is a traditional year-end banquet for Taiwan's homeless, elderly who live alone , single mothers and their families. However, the National Conference on Pension Reform was also held on the same day in the Presidential Office, the banquet was made a bit political. Chefs were busy on cooking and decorating dishes, they are preparing the year-end lunch for homeless friends, single mothers and live-alone seniors. ==MR. CHAO homeless== I am very pleased to have homeless friends gather and eat together. I won't have such feeling if I were to eat alone. ==MRS. WANG senior== The government-sponsored lunch is better. Today's lunch is very hearty. The year-end lunch was sponsored by the Gensis, Huashan and Zenan social welfare charities. A total of 2,200 tables lined up at the Katagalan Boulevard. There will be more free lunch events in other cities, the total number of lunch tables for homeless friends will be 3,650. This is a once-a-year event for homeless friends to eat free at their wish. ==LI HSIU-CHUAN Dep. Sec-Gen. Genesis Social Welfare Foundation== The budget for the year-end lunches is nearly NT$50 to 60 million. This year the economy has been distressful, last year we had over 40,000 contributions, this year we have only some 32,000 contributions. This year marks the 27th year for civil charities sponsoring year-end lunch for homeless people. January 22 was also the meeting day for the National Conference for Pension Reform. Police set up barricades to protestors at one end of the Katagalan Boulevard, while the other end was homeless people eating lunch. The barricades certainly added inconvenience to the people with disability. TRANSLATED BY：ANTHONY LIN 廚師們忙著擺盤，旁邊一整排的蒸籠也冒著蒸氣，山珍海味的佳餚、馬上就要上桌，希望給來用餐的寒士街友、單親媽媽、獨居長輩們，一頓豐盛的尾牙大餐。 ==街友 趙先生== 街友就是在一起吃 那就很高興 如果單獨一個人吃就不行了 ==獨居長者 王奶奶== 政府辦的比較豐盛啦 今天辦得很豐盛喔 由創世、華山、人安等基金會共同舉辦的「寒士吃飽30尾牙」台北場，週末中午在總統府前、凱達格蘭大道及周邊廣場舉辦，席開2200桌，之後也將在全台其他場次、合計舉辦3650桌，希望在歲末年終之際，讓社會邊緣的寒士們得以溫飽。 ==人安創世基金會副秘書長 李秀娟== 全台的(尾牙)經費 就要將近五 六千萬 目前來講 就是今年 因為整個景氣比較不好 所以我們的捐款筆數 去年有四萬多筆 今年只有3萬2千多筆 寒士尾牙今年已邁入第27個年頭，剛好又碰上國家年金改革國是會議在總統府內舉行，凱道另一頭又有抗議群眾，所以警方擴大管制，並在週邊架設層層拒馬及護欄，對行動不便的身心障礙民眾來說、入場格外辛苦。 記者 賴淑敏 邱福財 台北報導