A Taiwan government-designated account has raised nearly NT$80 million (US$2.8 million) one day after it was established to raise money to help Ukrainian refugees forced to flee their country by the Russian invasion.
Donations have poured into the account which was established at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the account had received NT$79.64 million from 15,677 donations. This included a highest individual donation of NT$2 million, according to the Relieve Disaster Foundation (?????????), commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to operate the donation drive.
The foundation called on people to continue to donate money to the account established under its name with the number 102-005-124-619 via automated teller machines or bank transfers.
Donations can also be made at https://wabay.tw/projects/twuk, it added.
Those who wish to learn more about the donation drive and how the money will be spent can call the Chinese-language hotline at (02) 8912-7779 from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on a daily basis, the foundation said. The special account will be active until April 1.
According to MOFA, it has asked its representative office in Poland to contact Polish government-designated NGOs to make sure the donated money will be spent on refugees from Ukraine.
President Tsai Ing-wen (???), Vice President Lai Ching-te (???), and Premier Su Tseng-chang (???) have pledged to donate one month's salary to the special account to help with relief efforts for Ukraine.
Politicians across party lines also pledged donations as did multiple private enterprises.
Union Bank of Taiwan, the Chinese-language Liberty Times, and RSL Corporation, which are all owned by the same Union Group, pledged to donate NT$15 million to the account.
Another NT$10 million has been pledged by a dozen local companies, including Mechema Chemicals International Corp, Mobiletron Co, Elan Microelectronics Corp, Kang Si Biotech and Puyung Archiland, among others.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel