World's First Muslim Tzu Chi Volunteer Provides Hot Meal Aid to Gaza Famine Victims
Hu Kuang-chung, the world's first Muslim Tzu Chi volunteer, has been leading hot meal aid efforts in Gaza since late September last year, collaborating with Turkey's El Menahil International School and Taipei Grand Mosque. They have provided hot meals and food packages to over 50,000 people, primarily youth and children, in Gaza and are now planning educational support for children.
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- 📰 Published: April 29, 2026 at 11:46
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Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Shi Wanqing, Cairo 28th exclusive report) Amidst the lingering smoke of conflict in the Middle East, the Gaza Strip is shrouded in cries for help due to hunger. A Taiwanese individual, combining the efforts of Turkey's El Menahil International School, the Taipei Grand Mosque, and Tzu Chi volunteers in Turkey, has overcome numerous obstacles to deliver bowls of hot soup and porridge to desperate families in Gaza since late September last year.
What is moving is not just the good deeds they have done, but also the surprising background of the initiator, Hu Kuang-chung.
Hu Kuang-chung, from a Muslim family, was originally a devout Muslim businessman in Turkey. After the 1999 Turkey earthquake, he was deeply moved by the spirit of great love demonstrated by Tzu Chi volunteers in disaster relief among the predominantly Muslim population. In 2000, he became the head of Tzu Chi's Turkey liaison office and has since launched dozens of aid activities to provide meals to Gaza residents, starting in August 2025.
● Fundraising for Gaza: Refugee children actively respond by initiating charity sales
Hu Kuang-chung recalled during an exclusive interview with Central News Agency on the 28th that in August last year, his Palestinian classmate, whom he studied with in Syria during his youth, told him about the dire situation in Gaza.
Hu Kuang-chung first organized the "El Menahil International School" in Turkey, which primarily serves Syrian refugee children. The children raised funds through charity sales, supplemented by donations from the Taipei Grand Mosque. Then, through former representative to Turkey and current chairman of the Taipei Grand Mosque, Zheng Taixiang, they found reliable channels to transport supplies into Gaza. In Az-Zawayda, in the heart of the Gaza Strip, local volunteers cook hot soup and porridge using ingredients purchased with donations, providing it to the severely malnourished people of Gaza.
Despite food prices soaring to absurd levels due to the war, at least supplies can still be smuggled in. "Jews are very good at business," Hu Kuang-chung said with a bitter smile to the Central News Agency, "The more urgent you are, the higher the price they will demand for things."
What touched Hu Kuang-chung even more was the contrasting reaction of the El Menahil School children. These poor children, fleeing war, need long-term financial support from the Tzu Chi Foundation to attend school. But when Hu Kuang-chung proposed fundraising for Gaza in mid-August last year, the entire school was abuzz. "We can also do something," said these children who were themselves receiving aid.
Amal Ibrahim, a teacher at El Menahil School, said, "Every child in Gaza dreams of a piece of bread and a drop of water. We want to tell them that we will not ignore them. We decided to hold a charity bazaar during the school's summer camp."
Those refugee children held charity sales at the school fair with their handmade crafts and dishes. From mid-August to early September, they raised a total of US$4,436 (approximately NT$140,000) from the charity sales.
In addition to providing long-term aid supplies to Gaza through special channels, the Taipei Grand Mosque also raised several thousand US dollars for the hot meal distribution event in September. Zhang Zhiping, a resident representative in Saudi Arabia, immediately made a generous contribution upon hearing about his childhood friend's great endeavor.
From late September last year to February this year, El Menahil School in Turkey, the Taipei Grand Mosque, and Tzu Chi volunteers collaborated to conduct 31 "water, soup, and porridge" hot meal distribution activities in the Gaza region, benefiting over 50,000 people. The recipients were mostly teenagers and children.
However, Hu Kuang-chung did not stop at merely "distributing and being done with it."
He began to implement Tzu Chi's five major standards for international aid and disaster relief: direct, focused, respectful, timely, and practical.
To ensure directness and focus, Hu Kuang-chung began compiling records in March, documenting the needs of every household, every name, and every child receiving aid, with verifiable details and stories. Then, based on the amount of donations, he allocated budgets and arranged practical uses.
Although there are over 2 million people in Gaza, due to the limited funds available to Hu Kuang-chung, he must act within his means. Therefore, currently, only over 400 families are provided with "food packages."
"What is respect?" Hu Kuang-chung then asked, his tone suddenly becoming serious. "Some charity groups' trucks just throw supplies off the vehicle when they enter the disaster area. Who gets them? Only those with bigger fists and stronger muscles get them. This doesn't make people feel respected."
Hu Kuang-chung then bluntly said, "If he's clearly thirsty and wants water, what's the use of giving him a cake now?" Therefore, they chose to cook hot soup and porridge seasoned with turmeric and rice beans on-site, allowing the hungry people to feel a touch of warmth immediately, which embodies timeliness and practicality.
However, due to occasional incidents during previous hot soup distributions where hot soup spilled on people's faces and hands due to crowding, the two distribution events in March have been changed to food packages containing flour, rice, chickpeas, cooking oil, sugar, and other food items.
● Food Feeds One Meal, Education Transforms a Lifetime
After describing the hot meal distribution activities, Hu Kuang-chung's tone shifted, and he told the reporter firmly, "But food can only feed one meal; education can transform a lifetime."
Hu Kuang-chung is now planning an aid program for Gaza children who have been out of school for more than two years, to help them return to their studies.
Hu Kuang-chung plans to build one tent classroom in each of the three main tent areas in central Gaza. Each tent can accommodate 50 students, divided into morning and afternoon shifts. Thus, the three tents are expected to serve 300 students. In addition to the US$4,000 cost for each tent, the monthly operating fund for the three tent classrooms will require approximately US$4,800.
Hu Kuang-chung pointed out that between August 2025 and February 2026, he has raised US$48,337. After deducting previous food distribution expenses, the remaining US$15,000 is expected to be distributed twice more in May.
Starting in June, the Tzu Chi Foundation will also formally inject funds to expand the number of beneficiary families for the distribution activities.
The promotional flyers at the distribution site bear three logos: El Menahil School, Taipei Grand Mosque, and Tzu Chi Foundation.
Muslims and Buddhists; Syrian refugees and Taiwanese charitable organizations; Turkey, Gaza, and Taiwan. These three seemingly disparate paths have converged and merged under the shadow of war.
For Hu Kuang-chung, who comes from a Muslim background and never imagined he would one day wear the blue and white uniform of Tzu Chi, later becoming Tzu Chi's first global Muslim volunteer,
(Central News Agency reporter Shi Wanqing, Cairo 28th exclusive report) Amidst the lingering smoke of conflict in the Middle East, the Gaza Strip is shrouded in cries for help due to hunger. A Taiwanese individual, combining the efforts of Turkey's El Menahil International School, the Taipei Grand Mosque, and Tzu Chi volunteers in Turkey, has overcome numerous obstacles to deliver bowls of hot soup and porridge to desperate families in Gaza since late September last year.
What is moving is not just the good deeds they have done, but also the surprising background of the initiator, Hu Kuang-chung.
Hu Kuang-chung, from a Muslim family, was originally a devout Muslim businessman in Turkey. After the 1999 Turkey earthquake, he was deeply moved by the spirit of great love demonstrated by Tzu Chi volunteers in disaster relief among the predominantly Muslim population. In 2000, he became the head of Tzu Chi's Turkey liaison office and has since launched dozens of aid activities to provide meals to Gaza residents, starting in August 2025.
● Fundraising for Gaza: Refugee children actively respond by initiating charity sales
Hu Kuang-chung recalled during an exclusive interview with Central News Agency on the 28th that in August last year, his Palestinian classmate, whom he studied with in Syria during his youth, told him about the dire situation in Gaza.
Hu Kuang-chung first organized the "El Menahil International School" in Turkey, which primarily serves Syrian refugee children. The children raised funds through charity sales, supplemented by donations from the Taipei Grand Mosque. Then, through former representative to Turkey and current chairman of the Taipei Grand Mosque, Zheng Taixiang, they found reliable channels to transport supplies into Gaza. In Az-Zawayda, in the heart of the Gaza Strip, local volunteers cook hot soup and porridge using ingredients purchased with donations, providing it to the severely malnourished people of Gaza.
Despite food prices soaring to absurd levels due to the war, at least supplies can still be smuggled in. "Jews are very good at business," Hu Kuang-chung said with a bitter smile to the Central News Agency, "The more urgent you are, the higher the price they will demand for things."
What touched Hu Kuang-chung even more was the contrasting reaction of the El Menahil School children. These poor children, fleeing war, need long-term financial support from the Tzu Chi Foundation to attend school. But when Hu Kuang-chung proposed fundraising for Gaza in mid-August last year, the entire school was abuzz. "We can also do something," said these children who were themselves receiving aid.
Amal Ibrahim, a teacher at El Menahil School, said, "Every child in Gaza dreams of a piece of bread and a drop of water. We want to tell them that we will not ignore them. We decided to hold a charity bazaar during the school's summer camp."
Those refugee children held charity sales at the school fair with their handmade crafts and dishes. From mid-August to early September, they raised a total of US$4,436 (approximately NT$140,000) from the charity sales.
In addition to providing long-term aid supplies to Gaza through special channels, the Taipei Grand Mosque also raised several thousand US dollars for the hot meal distribution event in September. Zhang Zhiping, a resident representative in Saudi Arabia, immediately made a generous contribution upon hearing about his childhood friend's great endeavor.
From late September last year to February this year, El Menahil School in Turkey, the Taipei Grand Mosque, and Tzu Chi volunteers collaborated to conduct 31 "water, soup, and porridge" hot meal distribution activities in the Gaza region, benefiting over 50,000 people. The recipients were mostly teenagers and children.
However, Hu Kuang-chung did not stop at merely "distributing and being done with it."
He began to implement Tzu Chi's five major standards for international aid and disaster relief: direct, focused, respectful, timely, and practical.
To ensure directness and focus, Hu Kuang-chung began compiling records in March, documenting the needs of every household, every name, and every child receiving aid, with verifiable details and stories. Then, based on the amount of donations, he allocated budgets and arranged practical uses.
Although there are over 2 million people in Gaza, due to the limited funds available to Hu Kuang-chung, he must act within his means. Therefore, currently, only over 400 families are provided with "food packages."
"What is respect?" Hu Kuang-chung then asked, his tone suddenly becoming serious. "Some charity groups' trucks just throw supplies off the vehicle when they enter the disaster area. Who gets them? Only those with bigger fists and stronger muscles get them. This doesn't make people feel respected."
Hu Kuang-chung then bluntly said, "If he's clearly thirsty and wants water, what's the use of giving him a cake now?" Therefore, they chose to cook hot soup and porridge seasoned with turmeric and rice beans on-site, allowing the hungry people to feel a touch of warmth immediately, which embodies timeliness and practicality.
However, due to occasional incidents during previous hot soup distributions where hot soup spilled on people's faces and hands due to crowding, the two distribution events in March have been changed to food packages containing flour, rice, chickpeas, cooking oil, sugar, and other food items.
● Food Feeds One Meal, Education Transforms a Lifetime
After describing the hot meal distribution activities, Hu Kuang-chung's tone shifted, and he told the reporter firmly, "But food can only feed one meal; education can transform a lifetime."
Hu Kuang-chung is now planning an aid program for Gaza children who have been out of school for more than two years, to help them return to their studies.
Hu Kuang-chung plans to build one tent classroom in each of the three main tent areas in central Gaza. Each tent can accommodate 50 students, divided into morning and afternoon shifts. Thus, the three tents are expected to serve 300 students. In addition to the US$4,000 cost for each tent, the monthly operating fund for the three tent classrooms will require approximately US$4,800.
Hu Kuang-chung pointed out that between August 2025 and February 2026, he has raised US$48,337. After deducting previous food distribution expenses, the remaining US$15,000 is expected to be distributed twice more in May.
Starting in June, the Tzu Chi Foundation will also formally inject funds to expand the number of beneficiary families for the distribution activities.
The promotional flyers at the distribution site bear three logos: El Menahil School, Taipei Grand Mosque, and Tzu Chi Foundation.
Muslims and Buddhists; Syrian refugees and Taiwanese charitable organizations; Turkey, Gaza, and Taiwan. These three seemingly disparate paths have converged and merged under the shadow of war.
For Hu Kuang-chung, who comes from a Muslim background and never imagined he would one day wear the blue and white uniform of Tzu Chi, later becoming Tzu Chi's first global Muslim volunteer,