Chen Shu-chu

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Chen Shu-chu
Chen Shu-Chu in 2010
Born	1950 (age 74–75) Yunlin County, Taiwan
Occupation(s)	Vegetable Vendor, philanthropist
Political party	NA
Awards	Ramon Magsaysay Award (2012)

Chen Shu-chu (Chinese: 陳樹菊; pinyin: Chén Shùjú; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Sū-kiok born 1950) is a Taiwanese retired vegetable vendor and philanthropist.

Chen Shu-chu was born in Yunlin County and moved to Taitung County at the age of seven. She completed her education at Jen-Ai Elementary School. Raised in a household of eight, she relied on her father's income as a vegetable vendor. Her mother died during childbirth because the family could not afford medical expenses. At 13, Chen became a vegetable vendor at Taitung Central Market to support her family. Her youngest brother died of influenza in 1969 due to a lack of medical treatment, and her second-youngest sibling died in a traffic accident.

After her father died in 1993, Chen donated NT$1 million to Fo Guang Buddhist Academy. In 1997, she donated NT$1 million to her alma mater, Jen-Ai elementary school.^[1] She had been unable to attend school as a child, and wanted to help children receive better education. Later, she donated NT$4.5 million to Jen-Ai elementary school to build a library.

In 2010, she was listed in the 2010 Time 100.^[2]

As of 2014, she had donated over NT$10 million (equivalent to $350,000 American dollars or £210,000 British pounds).^[3]

Chen adopted three abandoned children at the Christian KidsAlive International Association,^[4] and donates NT$36,000 to the organization every year.

In 2018, Chen was invited to attend the flag-raising ceremony during the National Day of the Republic of China held by Taitung City Government. At the ceremony, she announced that she had donated her two life insurance policies to East-based Medical Foundation Taitung Christian Hospital and Mackay Memorial Hospital Taitung Branch to set up the "Ms. Chen Shu-chu Medical Fund for Poor and Cancer Patients" and "Ms. Chen Shu-chu Medical Fund for Charities", respectively.^[5] The two insurance policies are worth NT$16,000,000.^[5] The insurer will pay the money upon Chen Shu-Chu's death.

In 2018, Chen retired after a bout of appendicitis early in the year, and moved to Kaohsiung.^[6]

In 2021, Chen donated NT$15 million in honor of her mother to create a fund to provide financial aid to pregnant women and scholarships to children who lose their mothers in childbirth.^[5]

Chen is a Buddhist adherent and practices vegetarian.^[3] She never married.^[3][7]

Sensational Kindness is a 2011 biography of Chen written by Liu Yung-yi.^[7] The writer spent about half a year interviewing Chen.

She was selected as one of the Time 100 for 2010 in the heroes category.^[8] She was also one of the 48 heroes of philanthropy by Forbes in 2010.^[9] Reader's Digest also honoured her as the winner of 2010 Asian of the year.^[10]

In 2012, she was selected as a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner.^[11] She donated her US$50,000 prize to Mackay Memorial Hospital.^[3][12]

In 2018, the asteroid 278986 Chenshuchu was named after her.^[13]

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