Since 1999, the International Guardian Angel's Manpower Bank, working with the Department of Health of the Taipei City Government, has been caring for the city's elderly who are either disabled or living alone.
The services include providing an escort to medical appointments, home visits, meal delivery, telephone calls and housekeeping. Volunteers receive credit for the time they commit which can be redeemed for free visits to the city's various public facilities.
For a total of 240 hours service accumulated within a period of 18 months, they can earn a health checkup worth NT$12,000 (US$355).
But what makes this organization different from its peers is that its volunteers have to be at least 50 years old. The eldest among the group's 200-plus volunteers is 86-year-old Brother Tan, who loves to share his time with other seniors.
Kan Ming, a 78-year-old who used to work in the movie industry, has earned more than 800 hours of credit, which he is saving for the future. "To me, the greatest reward for helping others is a sense of achievement and dignity," he said, adding that being able to make a contribution at his age was already a blessing to him.
In Taichung City, the Hondao Senior Citizens' Welfare Foundation was established in 1995. In the same year, the foundation created the Volunteer Hours Bank to assist the region's elderly.
Over the years, the scope of the group's services has been expanded to include other community work. For an annual fee of NT$100, members can receive "time dollars" worth 300 minutes of service.
According to Lin Yi-ing, the foundation's chief executive officer, before the group started to circulate its time dollars, volunteers seldom redeemed the credit they earned. The time banking system has greatly encouraged participants to exchange services with each other, she said. So far, five communities have signed up for the program.
"Time banking" was created in the 1980s by U.S. social equality campaigner Edgar S. Cahn. The concept explores the opportunities and social benefits of "strengthening communities through reciprocity." It has grown to become an ongoing social change movement in 22 countries on six continents.
Write to Meg Chang at meg.chang@mail.gio.gov.tw