Food Banks: Helping the Needy Live Dignified Lives(a)|食物银行：守望生活的尊严

Food Banks: Helping the Needy Live Dignified Lives

　　Reverend Philip Chen, the person who introduced US-style food banks to Taiwan, still has a dream. He hopes the government will adopt legislation that liberates all good Samaritans by exempting those who donate food in good faith from any criminal or civil liability if something goes wrong and a recipient is harmed. It is better that food that would otherwise be wasted end up in the hands of those who need it, so that no one will have to live in fear of hunger.

　　In 2012, one out of every six Americans experienced hunger, and the number of people getting assistance from food banks was 46 percent higher than in 2005. Also in 2012, about 850,000 Canadians required food bank assistance each month. Food banks in the US and Canada provide just-in-time safety nets to grab hold of people and pull them up before they fall into desperate poverty.

　　Statistics from the Ministry of the Interior in Taiwan show that there are 614,432 people living in households defined as low income or lower-middle income. They make up 2.6 percent of the total population, and they are the chief targets of government relief and social assistance. However, there are another roughly 1.7 million people living below the poverty line, who are called the near poor, and do not have access to government social welfare resources. 

　　Reverend Chen is determined to do something about this. He was born in Taiwan but moved to the US at the age of 21 and lived there for more than two decades, becoming a Christian minister. Four years ago, he returned to Taiwan and single-handedly founded the Taiwan People's Food Bank Association (TPFBA), which he enrolled in the international non-profit organization, Global Foodbanking Network, as its 24th member.

食物银行：守望生活的尊严

　　把美式食物银行引进台湾的推手陈坚智牧师心中还有梦想。他希望政府立法解放所有『善良的撒玛利亚人』，当事情出错或是受赠者受到伤害时，这些善意的捐赠者可以免除刑事或是民事责任。比较好的做法是不要浪费食物，而让这些食物最终能到达有需要的人手里，如此一来，每个人都能免于飢饿的恐惧。

　　2012 年，每六个美国人当中，就有一个人曾经历没饭吃的情况，而受食物银行帮助的人数，比 2005 年增加了百分之四十六。同样在 2012 年，大约有八十五万名加拿大人每个月都要仰赖食物银行救济。美、加两国的食物银行提供及时的『安全网』，在人们跌落极度的贫穷之前抓住他们并拉他们一把。

　　台湾内政部的统计数字显示，全台低收入户和中低收入户家庭人口数达六十一万四千四百三十二人。这个数字占总人口的百分之二点六，而且这些人是政府纾困及社会救助的主要对象。然而，还有大约一百七十万人生活在贫穷线之下，他们被称为『社福边缘户』，而且未能得到政府的社会福利资源。

　　陈坚智牧师下定决心要为此做一点事。陈牧师是在台湾出生，但二十一岁时便搬到美国并在当地住了二十多年，还成了基督教牧师。他在四年前回到台湾，并独自创办了『台湾全民食物银行协会』，该协会并成了国际性非营利组织『全球食物银行网络』的第二十四个成员。