Charitable vegetable vendor donates another NT$1 million

TAIPEI--Chen Shu-chu, a vegetable vendor who made Time Magazine's 2010 list of the world's 100 most influential people for her acts of philanthropy, donated NT$1 million (US$32,895) to the Red Cross Society Monday to help families in emergencies.

Chen, a native of Taitung County, took advantage of her trip to Taipei to attend National Day celebrations to present the donation to C.V. Chen, president of the Republic of China Red Cross Society, the charity said in a statement.
Of the money, NT$800,000 was from royalties on sales of her biography and the rest came from savings from vegetable sales, according to Chu Ya-chun, head of Aquarius Publishing Co., which published Chen Shu-chu's biography last year.
Chu told the United Daily News (UDN) that the vegetable vendor's biography had sold well, with a combined 30,000 copies of the Thai version and traditional- and simplified-character Chinese versions being snapped up to date.
“She decided to donate all the royalties to charitable causes and asked me to help her contact the Red Cross Society,” Chu was quoted as saying in a UDN report on Tuesday.
Chen Shu-chu chose to work with the Red Cross Society after meeting C.V. Chen for the first time at a recent charity event.
“She told me she felt Chen is a reliable person and decided to have his organization help deal with her donation,” Chu said.
During their meeting on Monday, the Red Cross Society president asked Chen Shu-chu whether she was happy selling vegetables. She answered that it was a “serious, painstaking” job.
“But I tend to feel great pleasure every time I donate money to help needy people. I usually sleep very well on those days,” the 62-year-old philanthropist said.
Praising her as the first glow of sunrise on the R.O.C.'s centennial, C.V. Chen said he hoped all Red Cross Society volunteers would share her sense of giving.
Chen Shu-chu, who leads a frugal life in a humble home in eastern Taiwan, has donated more than NT$10 million to charity programs, including building a library for her alma mater and helping orphaned children and disadvantaged families.
She originally planned to set up a foundation to pool resources to help more people but changed her mind.
“To avoid unnecessary hassles, I returned donations from other people and gave up the idea of setting up a foundation of my own. I decided to continue my regular job, save money and donate my savings as I see fit,” she said.

source:http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2011/10/12/319568/Charitable-vegetable.htm