Mother's Day Family Gathering Event - Expressing Love and Gratitude

In anticipation of Mother's Day, the Bade minimum security Prison, in a compassionate gesture towards the inmates' longing for their families, and with the aim of strengthening family bonds and support, collaborated with the Taiwan Rehabilitation Association Taoyuan Branch and the Tzu Chi Foundation to organize a face-to-face family gathering event on the eve of Mother's Day, April 28^th. This event provided inmates who couldn't be with their families an opportunity to express their love and longing for their loved ones.

During the event, Director Wu Shu-hsien from the Taiwan Rehabilitation Association Taoyuan Branch was present to not only disseminate information about the association's services but also to express the association's care for the inmates and their hopes for their successful reintegration into society. The Tzu Chi Foundation generously provided tea sets, cards, and carnation boutonnieres, allowing inmates to serve tea to their beloved family members through the art of tea ceremony. They also presented Mother's Day cards and adorned their family members with carnation boutonnieres, symbolizing gratitude and honoring the greatness of maternal love. Throughout the gathering, family members and inmates were seen chatting affectionately, exchanging warm greetings, and embracing each other, especially poignant amidst recent earthquakes, adding a deeper level of heartfelt concern and touching the hearts of everyone present.

One inmate, using the pseudonym Xiao Yu, expressed a mixture of smiles and tears, revealing that he had never done anything for his parents and family, taking their sacrifices for granted. However, after facing incarceration, he gradually realized the greatness of his family's selfless sacrifices. He expressed gratitude for the institution's initiative in organizing the Mother's Day family gathering event and thanked his family for their unwavering support, providing him with the opportunity to extend blessings to his mother, who never gave up on him, and to express deep remorse for his past mistakes.

Director Huang Hongxi emphasized the extraordinary significance of being able to reunite and embrace with one's most beloved family members on the eve of Mother's Day. He highlighted the role of family as the root of love, facilitating the unlocking of emotional barriers within inmates, fostering personal growth, and guiding them back to a positive and proactive path in life. The event saw the participation of 29 inmates and 48 family members, concluding in a heartwarming and emotionally fulfilling atmosphere of familial warmth and unity.