《TAIPEI TIMES》 New Taipei eatery owners cater for students in need

By Weng Yu-huang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The owners of a Japanese-style izakaya food pub in New Taipei City’s Lujhou District （蘆洲） have through 2019 and last year prepared 300 lunchboxes per month for disadvantaged students, free of charge.

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Thirty-year-old Hsu Jui-hsi （許睿熙） and his 23-year-old brother Hsu Pin-jui （許品濬） said they have received aid from welfare organization World Vision when they were young, so they want to “give back to those in need.”

“With our actions, we hope to encourage students to hold their heads high and stay strong,” the brothers said.

They hope that those who received the lunchboxes will prosper and one day also help others, they said.

Until 2009, when Hsu Jui-hsi graduated from high school, they had not often been able to eat out, the brothers said.

Hsu Jui-hsi said that he was often jealous of those who could enjoy good food at a restaurant, but now that he runs an izakaya, he wants to help children in the same position.

Talking about his career, he said that it has not been all smooth sailing.

The brothers have started with a food stall and worked their way up, he said.

Shen Mei-hua （沈美華）, the principal of Sanmin High School in Lujhou, said that the brothers in May 2019 first visited the school and later started volunteering to provide the lunchboxes.

About 120 students at the school benefit from the project every month, Shen said.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the brothers last year continued providing the school with lunchboxes and even invited 40 students to dine at the izakaya last month.

Students who benefited from the project said that they hope to emulate the brothers’ actions.

One student, identified as A-ming （阿明）, said that only due to the brothers, he did not go hungry.

The brothers are also working with Fuying Junior-High School in Sinjhuang District （新莊）, Shen said.

“We want to thank the brothers for their generosity, and hope that all students benefiting from the projects will emulate their actions and bring warmth to other disadvantaged people,” Shen said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES