Taipei, Taiwan (Merxwire) - The China Development Foundation (CDF) has run the "Heritage 100 Tutoring 100 Program" charity program for 15 consecutive years now. Each year, the Foundation awards scholarships to 100 college students, who volunteer to tutor and accompany disadvantaged students throughout Taiwan. The Foundation just recently announced this year's candidates and held the preparatory educational meeting. Although the pandemic prevented the group from gathering in a physical location, the 100 recipients of the grant were still able to gather online. In the online meeting, with CDIB Capital Group Senior Executive Vice President Melanie Nan sitting in as witness, the students vowed to overcome their difficulties with "love" and "patience", and to carry out their task of tutoring disadvantaged students for 100 hours.

Angelo Koo, Chairman of CDIB Capital Group who also leads the Foundation, deeply believes that "education is the most valuable investment" and that only education and knowledge can help children with insufficient resources to escape poverty. Since taking over as the chairman in 2006, he has used the foundation as a platform to promote various scholarships and charity programs such as the "Heritage 100 Tutoring 100 Program." Koo is a key figure in Taiwan's financial sector and a philanthropist. He donated in his personal capacity one million surgical masks to New Jersey in April 2020.

"Heritage 100 Tutoring 100 Program" was initiated by the CDF Foundation to transmit experience in education, exert influence, and give back to society. CDIB Capital Group Senior Executive Vice President Melanie Nan, who is also the chairperson of the CDF Foundation, said, "The goal of this scholarship is to help disadvantaged students and give them hope and warmth." The CDF Foundation awards 100 college students each year who serve as volunteer tutors and use what they have learned in university to help and provide care. At least 100 middle school and elementary school students will benefit as subjects of the program. Melanie believes that the volunteers are able to provide help for these disadvantaged students by pulling from their own developmental journeys, which is certain to become a positive force in the lives of these children.

One of the volunteers, Cheng Pei-Yu, a student at Soochow University who has received the scholarship from the CDF Foundation two years in a row, expressed her experience tutoring. She has gradually been able to bring the children closer together through empathy as well as sincere concern and companionship. Cheng said that because the volunteers shared similar upbringing and backgrounds with the children, she often recounted her own upbringing, her hard work to save money after entering university, and her dream of going abroad to study.

The children wanted to follow in their "big sister's" footsteps, and for that reason they gradually became interested in their schoolwork. Many volunteers for the CDF Foundation were just like Cheng-their empathy and companionship really did help these children find motivation and self-confidence in their learning.