TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tainan’s Karma Kagyu Monastery on Sunday hosted a charity banquet that provided meals, cash, and winter supplies to about 1,200 low-income and vulnerable residents ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Tainan City Government said participants came from Zuozhen, Yujing, Nanxi, and Nanhua districts, as well as families registered with local social welfare centers. Each attendee received a hot meal, NT$2,000 (US$63) in cash, and a winter gift set that included warm clothing.

“The charity banquet provided warmth and showed how civic groups can complement limited government resources,” Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said. He added that charitable groups have continued to organize cold-weather relief efforts each year before the Spring Festival, CNA reported.

Over 90 organizations and individual donors took part in the event, including temples, charitable foundations, and sheltered workshops, per UDN. Total donations of cash and supplies exceeded NT$14.61 million.

In addition, the city government said it will begin distributing Lunar New Year subsidies on Monday. Low-income households will receive NT$1,200 per household, while middle-low-income households will receive NT$500.

The city’s Social Affairs Bureau Director Kuo Nai-wen (郭乃文) urged the public to remain alert during the holiday period and report cases of child neglect or families in distress. Residents can contact emergency services or national and local welfare hotlines to seek immediate assistance or long-term care services.