Believe it or not, Budapest, Hungary is the birthplace of SALT Collectiv more than 5 years ago. While on a mission trip there to help the Roma Gypsies, the concept of giving back to our local community back home was conceived. The vision was simple, we knew plenty of people in our local community  who had big hearts who would love to give back. Having lived in Taiwan for many years ourselves, we knew how difficult it was to find an English speaking volunteer community. Instead of continuing to look for something that didn’t exist, we decided to build one. 

At first we started with five people at our first soup kitchen volunteer event, a year later we became 100, and the numbers just grew exponentially from there. It’s been five years since that Hungary trip, and now the volunteer spots for our SALT Kitchen get filled up in less than an hour, and as of March 2022, we recently hit a huge milestone by hiring our first two staff members. Resources and donations have been coming in this year and we’ve been able to do so much with that. We’ve done our best to follow our vision from day one and I would love to share with you all that vision. 

When we first envisioned the DNA of our SALT Collectiv community, we imagined it to be a place where people came together to work on projects that would benefit people in need. We also wanted to have fun and do it with people we’d love. We believe that people are born with the propensity to do good, so it’s our job to provide these opportunities to help our community train their generosity muscles to be strong so that giving becomes natural. Our goal is to have a whole community of people that can come together and do bigger and greater things for Taiwan so that we can truly say we’ve left a lasting imprint on this world. My personal goal has always been to grow our #GivingtreeTW campaign big enough that every orphan in Taiwan gets something, every marginalized person in Taiwan gets some love from SALT Collectiv and can feel seen. 

The truth is there is a lot of need right where we are, we just don’t get to see it. Every year for our #GivingtreeTW campaign we get to visit a multitude of places, such as HIV baby centers, orphanages for South-Eastern migrant workers who can’t afford to take care of their babies, terminally ill children at the NTU hospital – the list is endless. There is so much need here in Taiwan, if we just look a little harder and care a little more we will see it. We are blessed to be in our privileged positions in life with the many things we take for granted, that a dose of humility is often necessary for us to even further enjoy life. Why not pay back the world, which has been so kind to us, by giving back to the less fortunate. 

Our goal at SALT Collectiv is to start a spark here in Taiwan and hope that one day we can look back and see a gigantic wildfire that none of us could ever have imagined in our wildest dreams. 

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  1. Where can I volunteer in Taiwan?

SALT Collectiv is a nonprofit headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan that hosts volunteer opportunities to serve the marginalized. Volunteer opportunities include serving the homeless through our SALT Kitchen, orphanage visitations, elderly care, biannual beach cleanups, and our annual Christmas Giving Tree that gives over 1,000 gifts each year to the marginalized all over Taiwan. We also have fundraiser events such as trivia nights, bake sales, F45 workouts, carwashes, and many more. Our FUNdraiser events bring the fun into building our community. Come checkout our community and join the movement.  

  1. Can foreigners volunteer in Taiwan?

Yes! SALT Collectiv is a diverse international community of volunteers uniting for the purpose of making a lasting imprint for the vulnerable and marginalized. There are no prerequisites required to sign up for events and we welcome expats and locals alike to join our community. We ask only that you come with a heart to serve. When individuals come together, dedicating their time and talent to serve the marginalized, lives are touched and communities are transformed. In volunteering, you engage in causes bigger than yourself, cultivate meaningful relationships and positively impact your community.