Taipei, April 5 (CNA) Father Giuseppe Didone expressed gratitude for the donations made by Taiwanese to provide materials vital to quarantine work in Italy, one of the countries worst-hit by the new coronavirus, said the hospital in northeastern Taiwan where the Italian priest has served for over a half century.
More than 2,500 donations were made, surpassing NT$10 million (US$333,000) in total, to the fundraising center of Camillian Saint Mary's Hospital Luodong in Yilan County after Didone issued a public letter Wednesday asking for help to save his "other homeland."
After the appeal many Taiwanese either wired money or made donations in person at the center, some indicating a desire to repay the care of Italian priests who have worked at the hospital over the years, center head Lee Li-chiu told CNA Saturday.
"Love increases in size like a snowball," she said, adding that Father Didone was very grateful for the love expressed by Taiwanese people.
On Saturday a senior citizen visited the hospital with his grandson, the latter handing over his piggy bank as a donation, according to staff at the fundraising center.
The grandfather added NT$6,000 to his grandson's donation.
Also a senor citizen living in Yilan's Jiaoxi Township made a donation on Saturday to repay the medical care he received at the hospital 51 years ago when he was badly injured in an industrial accident, the fundraisers said.
In a joint media interview on Thursday, Father Didone lamented that while state-funded hospitals in Italy are mostly adequately supplied, many smaller local clinics are suffering from massive shortages of masks, ventilators, protective gowns and medications amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, he admitted that the Camillian Order, which operates the hospital, has currently no access to places where it can purchase quarantine supplements for Italy, which has reported over 120,000 cases and a world-leading 15,362 deaths from the disease, as of Sunday.
"Watching the outbreak back home, we 'Taiwanese' from Italy could do nothing but keep trying to seek every possible way to help," said Father Didone, "Luckily, we continued to receive donations from Taiwan, which is willing to give unselfishly for those suffering in our Italian home."
Because of current government restrictions on the purchase and export of medical supplies, the Camillian Order said it is seeking permission from Taiwan's government to purchase the supplies locally and ship them to Italy.
If that fails, the Order said it would consider trying to purchase the products abroad.
The fundraising campaign will end on April 15, no matter how many donations are received by that date, Father Didone said, because in many other corners of the world, people are also waiting for aid.
On Saturday, Lee said after the fundraising concludes, the center will discuss with the Camillians in Italy and Taiwan's government how to spend the donations on medical and quarantine materials and transport them to the most-needed COVID-19-stricken areas in Italy as soon as possible.
Didone, who first came to Taiwan in 1965, established special care centers for intellectually disabled people in Penghu and Yilan counties. He now works at the Camillian Saint Mary's Hospital in Yilan's Luodong Township.
In 2017, Didone and his late brother Antonio were among six members of the Camillian Order to receive Taiwanese citizenship, in recognition of their contributions to Taiwanese society.
