Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-05
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je on Monday joined the Children Are Us Foundation for the
opening of its newly-inaugurated “Enjoy Taipei Bakery” located on the first floor of the Taipei City Hall.
In the company of children with developmental disabilities, Ko learned to prepare smoked chicken panini sandwiches after which he tasted and joked that nothing would go wasted as he was wrapping some leftovers to go.
The foundation is a non-profit private organization (NPO) which provides long-term care and job training to people with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, multiple dysfunction and other mental illness. It works on changing people’s general perception, hoping people can understand and respect people with intellectual disability, instead of making fun or looking down on them.
The first Children Are Us bakery opened in Kaohsiung city in 1997, and the Foundation has since expanded, opening other branches across the island. According to the city government, the management contract of the Taipei branch is renewed every three years, and for the last nine years it has gone to Victory Potential Development Center for the Disabled. [FULL STORY]