The 2nd directorate meeting for Taichung-Changhwa-Nantou regional governance platform was held at the Kerry TJ Logistics Company Limited (嘉里大榮物流股份有限公司) in Taichung Industrial Park on April 21, 2015. The Letter of Intent to set up the logistics platform for food banks was also signed among the three counties and cities. The Kerry TJ Logistics will also provide free warehousing space to Taichung City Government.

The Letter of Intent was signed among Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung, Changhwa County Magistrate Wei Ming-gu and Nantou County Deputy Magistrate Chen Zheng-sen. Mayor Lin said, “I began to push legislation for Food Bank when I was a legislator. As mayor of Taichung City, I have also begun to formulate self-management rules for Food Bank in Taichung City so as to give Food Bank legal base and policy support.”

“In the past, we encountered some bottlenecks in pushing the concept of Food Bank into practice.” Mayor Lin added, “We did not have any warehousing and logistics company to help preserve and transport the food ingredients in the past. We are very grateful that the Kerry TJ Logistics is giving out a big helping hand to provide refrigerated warehousing space for the fresh ingredients to Taichung City. Kerry TJ Logistics has also promised to transport stuffs for the food banks in our three counties and cities. It is certainly a model for social-welfare businesses.”

“With the help of Kerry TJ Logistics, our food banks can now provide not only dry food and instant noodles but also fresh foods and vegetables." Mayor Lin said, “We will be very happy to share our Taichung experience to Changhua and Nantou. In fact, my Taichung City Government does not just sit idle there, waiting passively for donations. Our Agriculture Bureau has been taking the initiative to acquire surplus agricultural products for school lunches and the disadvantaged families.”

Changhwa County Magistrate Wei Ming-gu said, “Food Bank is called ‘Happy Shop’ in Changhua. A caring station is set up in each community. People living in Changhua can dial ‘1957’ and Kerry TJ Logistics will pick up their donation of fresh ingredients free of charge. I hope this Food Bank Warehouse can further enhance the Taichung-Changhwa-Nantou governance platform, so that we can offer better service to our vulnerable populations in the future.”

Nantou County Deputy Magistrate Chen Zheng-sen also said, “Food Bank mainly targets the unemployed or the misfortune families. As Nantou is vast, we at the Nantou County Government have authorized the local school teachers to distribute stuffs for Food Bank to those in need. In the future, we will adopt the Food Bank model to provide fresh food stuffs to primary and secondary school students for their lunch programs. I hope students can have more nutritious meals to enjoy.”

The Kerry TJ Logistics helped to transport food stuffs for the Taichung Food Bank-Leechuan Station at the beginning but has expanded the service to entire Taichung region since October 2014. Now, Kerry TJ Logistics has even transported food stuffs in between food banks in Changhwa County and Nantou County and provided free warehouses to Taichung City for storing foods under room temperature, low temperature and refrigeration, Social Affairs Bureau pointed out.