Sheltered Workshop Only Receives One Order for Gift Box|中秋訂單慘兮兮 庇護工場經費堪憂

The Mid-Autumn Festival is around the corner. This year, Hualien's New Dawn Developmental Center's sheltered workshop has not received many orders for its mooncake gift boxes. In fact, orders have fallen by 90 percent compared to previous years, and the center calls to the society for a helping hand.


This is a sheltered workshop run by Hualien New Dawn Developmental Center. Some students are folding flyers, while others are learning how to bake cakes. The sheltered workshop makes mooncake gift boxes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, but this year as of Aug. 15, it has only received one order, which was for NT$1,000. Teachers worry students will end up not having anything to learn.

I hope there will be additional orders for the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake gift boxes, so we can earn a little more money.

If the number of orders falls, there will be fewer opportunities for them to learn. Our sheltered workshop exists to train them, so they will be able to work like the general population.

The sheltered workshop's statistics show that starting last year, the number of mooncake gift box orders unexpectedly decreased by 40 percent. However, it still sold over 500 boxes, or around NT$2 million in sales. This year, it hoped to rack up sales of NT$1.5 million, but so far has only received one order. There are fears the sheltered workshop won't be able to continue operating.

The pensions of government functionaries have fallen, and their retirement pay has also been slashed. The economy is in a slump too. (Is it very obvious?) I think it's very obvious.

During the past two years, many charitable organizations have been impacted by the economic downturn. Hualien New Dawn Developmental Center used to have 32 disabled students, but only 27 remain this year. If the sheltered workshop does not receive any more orders, it will be hard for it to continue operating and the center may have to reduce its student body. It urges society to lend a helping hand.