April 2 is the annual Social Worker Day and city hall held the 2016 Taichung City Social Worker Recognition Ceremony on March 27 to show appreciation to the 1,300 social workers in the city. Mayor Lin Chialong handed out awards to 34 veteran and excellent social workers to show gratitude, approval and encouragement to their long-term service.

6 awards were handed out today including the lifetime achievement award, heritage award, excellent supervision award, excellent social worker award and the best up-and-comer award. These awards recognized workers in areas such as labor, education, health, social administration and social welfare. Students from the 6 social work related university departments in the Greater Taichung area were also invited to participate as event volunteers. This gesture allowed them to pay homage to their predecessors while also allowing the torch of social service to be passed on to the younger generation, directly corresponding with last year’s theme “Mission and Heritage-Keeping Company on the Journey.”

Mayor Lin participated in the award ceremony and paid respect to all social workers accompanied by Social Affairs Bureau director Lu Jiande. Mayor Lin especially approved of the fact that the city hall team won first place in the social welfare evaluation with the fewest personnel of the 6 direct-controlled municipalities. He also admired the social workers’ passion and courage when face with difficult social situations.

“The devotion of the social workers, it is no easy task!” mentioned Mayor Lin. He participated in the event today with a heart filled with gratitude. He considers each social worker an angel, filling the city with love and warmth through their devotion while also caring for those in need. Mayor Lin said that he used “walk in the light to make the city better” as a motto last year and he hopes to “become the light to brighten more people” this year! He also implored citizens to start caring for those around them.

Mayor Lin pointed out that the government has a limited budget while the public has unlimited resources. The current objective is to create a better social welfare system through the cooperation of public and private organizations. It is also hoped that various welfare policies will be improved through social investments and innovation, allowing the limited budget of the government to be more effective.

Social Affairs Bureau director Lu Jiande expressed that today’s recognition event not only showed appreciation to the effort and performance of frontline social workers, but also served as an opportunity for the establishment of an information exchange platform for professional social workers. He encouraged everyone to strive for the development of a professional social worker system. In the future, city hall will continue to organize a complete professional social worker system in addition to training more social workers.