Cijin District Office Witnesses Community Support as Richten Energy CEO Hsueh Wei-li Leads Donation Drive for Vulnerable Hong Family

KAOHSIUNG — A vulnerable family in Kaohsiung’s Cijin District has received NT$100,000 in emergency assistance after a local social worker, business leaders, civic groups and the district office came together to help the family through a difficult loss.

For years, the elder brother of the Hong family had carried the weight of caring for both his younger brother, who suffered from long-term illness and required extensive daily assistance, and his elderly mother, who is also physically and mentally disabled. The family had long struggled under the pressure of caregiving and financial hardship. When the younger brother recently passed away in hospital, the cost of an urn, a columbarium niche and related funeral arrangements suddenly became an immediate and heavy burden for the surviving family members.

At the family’s most difficult moment, Liang Shu-chuan, a frontline social worker from the Kaohsiung Branch of the Genesis Social Welfare Foundation, identified the family’s urgent needs and quickly began connecting them with outside support. Having worked for years with disadvantaged families, Liang has often been among the first to see households that are easily overlooked but deeply in need of help. In this case, her quick action did more than identify a problem. It allowed goodwill to be mobilized quickly and gave a grieving family the support they needed to complete the final arrangements with dignity.

After receiving the information from the social worker, Hsueh Wei-li, CEO of Richten Energy Co., Ltd. and a recipient of both the national Bade Award for Good Deeds and the Kaohsiung Good People and Good Deeds recognition, immediately took the lead in calling on friends, business partners and supporters from different sectors to join the effort. Together, they raised NT$100,000 to help the family cover the cost of the urn, columbarium niche and related follow-up expenses.

Hsueh said the purpose of the donation was to help the deceased rest in peace while giving the surviving family members a measure of comfort and stability.

Hsueh said the purpose of the donation was to help the deceased rest in peace while giving the surviving family members a measure of comfort and stability.

「Public service does not begin only when we have abundant resources. It begins when we reach out first, at the moment someone else needs help the most.」Hsueh said. 

He added that true ESG should not remain only in corporate reports, formal policies or slogans. It should become real action when society needs help the most.

“What I want to express most this time is not gratitude toward myself, but toward every friend and partner who believed in this effort and responded immediately,” Hsueh said. “Because everyone was willing to step forward together, this support could reach the family more quickly. Every person who joined this donation was an essential force behind this charitable action. They also helped extend the meaning of ESG beyond corporate governance and environmental responsibility, toward social care, mutual support and human-centered responsibility.”

The donation was formally completed under the witness of Chang An-chun, Director of the Cijin District Office. More than a single act of emergency relief, the effort represented a coordinated act of support involving a frontline social worker, private-sector donors, civic supporters and the local public sector. From identifying the need, to mobilizing private resources, to completing the donation under public witness, the process reflected not only compassion, but also transparency, credibility and public trust.

Chang said the role of local administration is not limited to carrying out rules and procedures.

“The value of local government lies not only in implementing systems and processes, but also in serving as a trusted platform that connects goodwill when society is in need,” Chang said. “From social worker Liang Shu-chuan of the Genesis Social Welfare Foundation identifying the family’s urgent need, to CEO Hsueh Wei-li bringing together friends and business partners to respond quickly, this action allowed a vulnerable family to feel that society had not abandoned them at one of the most difficult moments of their lives. That is truly valuable.”

Chang added that what made the effort especially meaningful was that the donation was completed in an open and transparent manner, under public witness.

“This is not only a warm act of kindness,” she said. “It is also a positive example of public-interest action. The district office will continue to serve as a fair witness and a partner in resource coordination, so that every act of kindness can be properly delivered and those who truly need help can receive timely support.”

The individuals and organizations participating in the donation included Hsueh Wei-li, CEO of Richten Energy Co., Ltd.; Li Chia-jung, Deputy General Manager of Together Sustainability Technology Co., Ltd.; Chiang Chien-chang, Director of Yongyi Capital Co., Ltd.; Hsu Lien-cheng, General Manager of Chuan Mao Energy Technology Co., Ltd.; Lu Yun-wen, President of the Parents’ Association of Kaohsiung Municipal Xiaogang Junior High School; Ho Kuan-yu, Chairperson of the Taiwan Happiness Ecology Charity Association; Hsu Yi-chen, General Manager of Jiashuo Enterprise Co., Ltd.; Wu Ming-tsung, Founder and CEO of Meri Information Co., Ltd.; Huang Lan-yu, Senior Manager of Citel New Energy Co., Ltd.; Hsin Pei-yu, Art Director of 1023 Art Studio; and Chien Yu-yuan of the Sudian Auto Service Team. Together, they donated NT$100,000.

Ho Kuan-yu, Chairperson of the Taiwan Happiness Ecology Charity Association, said meaningful charity is not merely a one-time act of assistance. It is about being willing to extend another hand and gather more strength when someone is at their most helpless.

“Being able to join so many socially minded partners in this effort means more than completing a donation,” Ho said. “It means helping preserve the final dignity of a family. It also reminds us that warmth in society has always been there.”

Lu Yun-wen, President of the Parents’ Association of Kaohsiung Municipal Xiaogang Junior High School and one of the donors, said the assistance should not be seen as an ending, but as the beginning of continued care.

She said she hoped the action would help more people recognize that many vulnerable families in society still need to be understood, discovered and supported. Every timely helping hand, she added, may become the strength that allows a family to regain its footing in a dark moment.

For all those who joined the donation, the NT$100,000 was more than financial assistance. It was a shared act of social responsibility. Every person who responded played a key role in turning goodwill into real support. Because of this collective effort, charity was not only an individual gesture, but a warm force created by many people acting together.

The donation also underscored a broader message: meaningful sustainability is not reflected only in changes to buildings, energy systems and the environment. It is also reflected in whether a society is willing to protect basic human dignity when people are facing their hardest moments.

For Richten Energy, sustainability has never been only about advancing technology. As a renewable energy company focused on colored solar PV solutions, Richten Energy views sustainability as a responsibility that must be put into practice wherever there is a real need. This charitable effort, initiated by Hsueh and joined by partners from across sectors, showed ESG moving beyond corporate governance and into social good — not as a concept, but as action.