Rev. Chen Changhe, CEO of the Yellow Ribbon LoveNet Care Association, passed away on the 5th due to a myocardial infarction at the age of 65. The association will hold a memorial service at 3 PM on the 23rd at the Good Shepherd Church on Section 1, He Wei Road, North District, Tainan City. To continue Chen’s vision, the association will also maintain its tutoring services and lead disadvantaged children on biking mountain trips to help them rediscover their life direction.
The Yellow Ribbon Association stated that on the morning of February 20th, Chen Changhe suffered a fracture in a traffic accident while visiting families and underwent surgery at Shinlow Hospital. At the end of February, he was transferred to Tainan Hospital under the Ministry of Health and Welfare for rehabilitation. On the morning of March 4th, he was still in his hospital room holding a meeting with association staff, discussing future plans and expectations for the association. Unexpectedly, the next day during rehabilitation, he suddenly fell into a coma. After being rushed to Cheng Kung University Hospital, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and he passed away from a myocardial infarction at 7:58 PM that evening.
The association noted that in 2005, when after-school tutoring programs were not yet widespread in Tainan City, Chen Changhe and his wife, Peng Suqin, noticed many intergenerational families in the Xincheng community on Dadao Road, North District, facing educational challenges. In collaboration with Daguang Elementary School and Guangwu Neighborhood, they started an after-school tutoring class under the name of the Adullam Association. Since this service addressed many families' concerns about eldercare and childcare, after relocating to He Wei Road, they continued the tutoring program and expanded into family services.
For this reason, at the age of 55, Chen Changhe took elective social work courses at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and Chang Jung Christian University, aiming to better and more professionally assist disadvantaged families.
Later, Chen Changhe opened a second service center on Zhongxiao Road, Yongkang District, and renamed the organization the “Registered Taiwanese Yellow Ribbon LoveNet Care Association.” By the end of 2013, the association had served 139,148 individuals, including 1,300 elementary and junior high school students and over 300 families. Each year, the Yellow Ribbon tutoring classes typically serve around 70 to 100 elementary and junior high students, with over 30% of them being the same children receiving help for two consecutive years or more, or entire families with multiple children attending the classes.
As the tutoring has been completely free for the past decade, Chen Changhe also accumulated personal debts of over NT$1 million, which remained unpaid at the time of his passing.
This year, to help tutoring students build confidence and face challenges bravely, the association has planned a 5-day “Ride to Victory – Biking Up Alishan” program. During the summer break, students will first pick mangoes in Nansi District, then deliver some of the mangoes by bike to the Leye Tribe in Alishan the following day. Finally, they will ride together to watch the sunrise on Alishan, marking the culmination of this challenge—because next year, they plan to take on Hehuanshan as well.