The Barefooted Kind Man, Donated His Money and Books for Twenty Years Lived His Life Simply

A kind man, with the will of doing good, of helping those who are, less fortunate than he, with his own abilities, his own, will, from the Newspapers, translated…

Lai, whom everybody called “the barefoot kind man”, had been more than generous when it comes to not-for-profit work; he’d donated all of what he’d earned from the sales of his book, and from the tapes of Buddhist chants he’d made, donated more than $60 million N.T.s in the twenty-years since he’d started giving in forms of money and resources.  He’d loved donating the books, and had donated more than twenty million volumes of books total, he said, “I only need the bare minimum to live, seeing how everybody is immersed in reading, how they’re, gaining wisdoms from reading, I feel, overjoyed.”

The owner of the shrine in Changwha, Lai was originally from Taichung.  Hwatang is known for making the shoes in all of Taiwan, after Lai was finished with his armed service terms, he’d entered into the line of work, producing the slippers, once he saw a woman whose husband had passed, and couldn’t make a living on her own, he’d started donating $3,000N.T. per month, and this was the beginning of his goodwill.

a photo of the man, courtesy of UDN.com

with the desks in this classroom, all, donated by the Buddhist shrine he’d set up…

Not only those who are better off can donate to a cause.  Lai after the slippers factory stopped operating, started using his thoughtfulness, set up a plan of action, to help the community; because he’d worked as a chanter in the earlier years, he was experienced in teaching the verses to the masses, twenty-five years ago, he’d set up the Bade Shrine, for the locals to come to ask things, and every time the followers would donate a hundred, two hundred dollars N.T., and he’d put the money into an independent account, for the sake of donations, and as emergency funds for those who needed.

Lai donated his money most willingly to the libraries to buy more books, he said, twenty-five years as he’d studied the Buddhist verses, he’d come to understand, that “good books are gold, while bad books are the devil”, and ever since, he’d made a wish to donate the books to the libraries.

He’d made these book donations to the local libraries in the county where he lives annually, later, he’d expanded his donations to other localities, other counties, the county library of Hwatang only had a budget of $400,000N.T. in buying the brand new reading materials, he’d donated $120,000N.T.’s worth of books just this year.

He’d also, donated the money, or the wheelchairs to help those handicapped individuals, there were those in his hometown who couldn’t get the money to set up the funeral processions, the families came to him for help, and he’d, also, donated to help them out without asking any questions.  The tracks of the “Barefoot Do-Gooder” never stopped, and he will, keep on, trekking around, passing out the kindness.

So, this, is a local man, who’d helped others with his own abilities, he’d been, donating, to help the literacy programs, the books that are needed in those, distant-regions, and, he’d also, helped those who are in desperate need, and this is a man with an amazing will, a good heart, and his kindness will keep on, cycling around in his local areas, as those who were touched by his kindness, are bound, to pass along the sense of help they’d received out to others too.