Midwest Mainstream Mandarin Teacher Association holds “Love Without Borders Concert” – A Benefit Concert for Feed My Starving Children

In early April, the Midwest Mainstream Mandarin Teacher Association, a group of Taiwanese Mandarin teachers in the American Midwest, initiated a charity concert to support Feed My Starving Children, an NGO organization in Minnesota.

The concert was inspired by a Mandarin class in which the teacher was guiding students to discuss the social problem of starving people in Mandarin. This aroused a spirited response from the students and then after several meetings, the Mandarin teachers decided to hold a charity concert to support the provision of food, education, and medical care to needy children.
The concert was held on May 5 at the Cultural Center of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago. Angela Yang, a pianist, Joshua Lin, a harpist, Rachel Cheng, a soprano, and Daniel Lam, a tenor gave a one and a half hour performance. Michel Chen, the chairman of the host association, gave the opening remarks expressing the purpose of the concert. A representative of Feed My Starving Children then outlined the purpose and function of the organization, how it manages donations, and the countries it assists.
David Dong, Director of the Education Division also made remarks, speaking on behalf of TECO in Chicago, and Wang Wei-Zan, Director of the Cultural Center, spoke on behalf of the Overseas Community Affairs Council expressing support for the charity concert. They both encouraged the audience to generously support this cause and to donate money at the concert or online later, and in the future. The hostess thanked many people for their support and expressed hope that this event would gather as much money as possible to support the most needy areas and children.

The artists performed Taiwanese songs, such as “Bang-Chhun-Hong”, “Peh-Bo-Tan”, and “Tni-O-O”, and some French art songs. The concert attracted about 200 people from the local Westmont area, the Taiwanese community, schools with Mandarin programs, Chicago Mandarin schools, and other organizations.