CARES Act provides Tax Relief to Encourage Charitable Giving in 2020
The new rules allow extra $300 charitable donation deduction if you claim standard deduction in your tax return. 100% instead of previously 60% of your adjusted gross income is deductible if you claimitemized deduction. Source
From a task to a helping hand
The COVID-19 pandemic is still severe in China. The visually impaired college students in our sponsorship program have been at home since Chinese New Year in mid-January and have not been able to return to school to resume classes. We have been very concerned about their situation and have maintained close contact with each student through the help of our local co-worker YY. The following message is from Jack, a student who will graduate this June. He would like to share with you all some of his experience at his internship and his current situation under the impact of the pandemic……
Dear Rainbow Missions’ uncles and aunties!
Time flies! I can’t believe that I am about to graduate in a few months. I still remember the day I first arrived to the university campus as if it was yesterday. Five years isn’t a short period, even compared to a lifetime. Every bit of the past five years has helped me become more mature and confident, especially when facing difficulties.
Due to the pandemic, this past Chinese New Year was not joyous or eventful. The most important thing is that until now, we still have not been able to return to school or our internship site. But I am grateful that I have not wasted any time during this situation.
Back then, I had a very regular schedule at my internship: going to work at 8:30 in the morning, leaving work at 6:30 in the afternoon, and having a lunch break at noon. For most of the day, I would help my teacher treat some patients with simple medical issues. Because my teacher’s eyesight is even worse than mine, I occasionally attended some meetings or learning activities for him. These turned out to be very interesting opportunities for me to get to know people other than doctors and patients at the internship site. I especially liked it when the discussions involved management skills. At any event, I would carefully observe people’s interactions around me. Through subtle behaviors or verbal communication, I learned how to cope in the workplace and get along with colleagues and leaders. For instance, I noticed that when attending meetings, people often let higher-ranking leaders sit first, which is probably a social norm of being respectful or polite, even though they might not work in the same department or unit.
While working with patients who need massage treatment, I have encountered situations where patients have asked for another massage therapist because they think I am not strong enough to do it. Whenever this happened, I initially felt a little unease in my heart. I thought my strength was good enough to deal with the issues but I managed to keep this to myself. Whenever I got this kind of request, I reacted with enthusiasm and immediately asked another person to help that patient. Later, after communicating what happened with my teacher, I realized that I should not be bothered too much when this happens because some people prefer to have massage treatment with extra strength. Even colleagues as advanced as my teacher have faced this kind of situation. With the encouragement and support from my teacher, I felt more relaxed and at ease when encountering this situation. Eventually, more and more patients started to appreciate my massage style or technique. I felt encouraged and even a little excited when patients would respond with a simple, “It’s so comfortable!” after treatment. Indeed, everyone’s massage treatment style and skills can be very different. I really don’t need to focus only on strength. Essentially, my style and effort are being recognized and that is the best encouragement to me.
After the first half year of internship training, I discovered that I didn’t dislike massage as much as before. When I massaged others, I no longer regarded it as a task but as a helping hand to others. If my patients said that they felt more relieved and comfortable after treatment, I was very happy. I used to say that I was reluctant to be a massage therapist. Although I still don’t extremely love it, if I must work in this industry in the future, I can accept it and I will try my best to do it well.
Back to the pandemic… If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t say it has greatly impacted my personal life. In contrast, it has given me more spare time to work on my own hobbies. For instance, recently I have been involved in a customer service training program. After passing the exam, I will become an online customer service staff member and be able to earn a little income. Another example is that I am working on a small video to promote a product that should be done in a day or two. It may not be good enough to be presented in mainstream media, but hopefully it will provide helpful information for people who are interested to know more about or purchase the product.
Overall, during this period I feel very fulfilled and content. I have never neglected the precautions against the coronavirus and continue to stay safe.
Finally, I wish you all, uncles and aunties of Rainbow Missions, are healthy and happy! After my new video is released, I will ask YY to help forward it to you. The production may be rough but I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
CARES Act法案規定2020年鼓勵慈善捐贈的稅收減免
跟據新的法案,如果在個人稅單中申請標準扣除額,新規定允許額外扣除 300 美元慈善捐贈。如果你選擇逐項扣除, 慈善捐贈可扣除 額調整至總收入的100%,而不是以前60%。資料來源
從一項任務到助人為樂的舉手之勞
疫情嚴峻，彩虹工程資助的視障大學生，自從一月中下旬回家過春節後，就一直待在家中，至今仍然未能回校復課。
對於他們各人的情況，我們一直都非常關心，透過本地同工YY的幫忙，與他們保持著緊密的聯繫。
以下是今年六月即將畢業的阿傑，來信與大家分享他生命成長的軌跡，並最近疫情影響下的生活點滴⋯⋯
親愛的彩虹的叔叔阿姨好！
時間過得飛快，轉眼間就快要畢業了，想起剛剛走進大學校園的日子，彷彿就在昨天。五年的時間，在一生中也不能算太短了。五年中的點點滴滴，都促使現在的我變得更加從容，尤其是面對困難問題的時候。
受疫情的影響，這一個農歷新年過得並不算熱鬧，而最最關鍵的是，直到現在，我們依然未能返回單位進行實習工作。不過值得欣慰的一點，就是我並沒有把這一段時間浪費掉。
「 在單位的生活基本上是非常規律的，早上八點半上班，下午六點半下班，中午也有午休的時間。一天中大多數的時間，我會幫忙老師處理一些簡單的患者身體上的問題；因為老師視力不好，也偶爾會出門替老師出席一些會議或者學習活動，這一點感覺非常有趣，因為可以接觸到除了醫生患者以外的其他人群，特別是一些參與管理工作的老師。在活動現場，我會認真地觀察他們，透過一些細微的動作或者語言，我學習職場上的應對，或是應該如何與同事並領導們相處。舉一個小小的例子：我發現參加會議的時候 ，即便不是同一個部門，甚至不是自己單位的，大家也往往會讓職位更高的領導先入座，大概這也是一種社交上的習慣和禮貌。
在推拿治療上，我也遇到過因為我力氣不夠，要換人的情況。第一次遇到的時候，心裡面還有點不甘，覺得我的力氣已經挺大的了！不過這也只是心裡想想而已，嘴巴上我依然是非常熱情的，馬上幫忙換了另外一個人。後來和老師交流以後發現，偶爾遇到一兩個這樣的人，其實也不用太在意，因為有一些人真的喜歡力氣特別大的推拿治療，即便像老師那種級別，也有按不動的情況。經過老師的開導，後來再遇到了這樣的情況，心中很快就釋然了。慢慢地，也有了喜歡我手法的患者，當他們說出一句簡單的「可舒服了！」的時候，其實我的內心還是有點小激動的。的確，每個人的手法風格都有所不同，其實我真的沒有必要一味的追求力氣大，只要得到更多人的認可，那就是對我最好的鼓勵了。
經過上半年的實習，其實我對於推拿已經沒有像以前那樣討厭了，也許是患者給我帶來了成就感吧！我做推拿的時候，已經不再把它當成一種任務，而是把它當成一種助人為樂的舉手之勞，當治療完成以後，只要患者們說一句舒服多了，我就很開心。以前我說過，我是比較排斥推拿的，但是現在呢？我不會再像從前一樣討厭它了，雖然不至於對它非常喜歡，但如果以後要從事這個行業，我是可以接受，並且一定會盡力完成得很好的。
這次疫情對於我個人的影響，反而不是特別大。相比之下，它讓我有了更多的業餘時間，去完成我自己的愛好，比如最近正在參加了一個客服培訓項目，再過一段時間就可以參加考試，成為一名網絡客服人員，並且能夠取得一點點的收入。再比如近幾天正在製作一個產品的小小體驗視頻，應該再過一兩天就可以最終完成，可能發不到主流媒體和網友們進行交流討論，最重要的是可以幫助到對這款產品感興趣，想要購買的小夥伴。
總體而言，這一段時間過得非常充實，並且快樂，同時也沒有疏忽對於疫情的防控。
最後，祝願彩虹的所有叔叔阿姨們，都健康快樂！等我的新作品出爐以後，我會讓YY姐幫忙轉發，製作可能比較粗糙，到時候大家不要見笑喲!