Tzu Chi volunteers stand in the assembly hall at the Jing Si Hall in Hualien, Taiwan, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Members of Buddhist group Tzu Chi pray for a victim's body in a car during a rescue operation following an earthquake in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. When a 7.4-magnitude earthquake ripped through Taiwan in April, it took about 30 minutes for Tzu Chi, an international Buddhist organization led by an 87-year-old nun, the Venerable Cheng Yen, and her followers, to set up an emergency response center. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Two slogans "Great Compassion, Great Vow" and "A Pure Heart Gushes Out Infinite Love" are written on the wall of the Tzu Chi's Four Missions Exhibition at the Jing Si Hall in Hualien, Taiwan, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Tzu Chi is an international Buddhist organization led by the Venerable Cheng Yen, an 87-year-old nun living in Taiwan. The organization follows the principle of humanistic or engaged Buddhism, which emphasizes loving compassion, community engagement and action over rituals and prayer. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
In this photo provided by the Taiwan Presidential Office, the then President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen meets with Cheng Yen in Hualien county, eastern Taiwan, Sept. 21, 2022. In 1966, (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
An elderly man is wheeled past Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, Thursday, July 6, 2023. “In Tzu Chi, the hospital itself is an embodiment of Buddhist canon,” says Julia Huang, professor of anthropology at National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A medical technologist performs a test at the department of laboratory medicine of the Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Shu-Ching Teng, the first nurse at the free clinic in 1972, explains the history of the Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. In 1966, Cheng Yen — touched by lack of access to basic healthcare in the beautiful yet economically underdeveloped region — started Tzu Chi, inviting local housewives to save 50 Taiwanese cents each month. Today, the charitable foundation organizes relief operations globally. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Tzu Chi volunteers say goodbye to a Buddhist master before setting out on a volunteer mission at the Jing Si Abode in Hualien, Taiwan, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
People wait in the lobby of the Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
People visit the department of laboratory medicine for testing at the Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. In 1966, (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
People walk out of Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
People walk past Jing Si Abode, the headquarters of Tzu Chi, in Hualien, Taiwan, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Nuns tend to a garden at the Jing Si Abode, the headquarters of Tzu Chi, in Hualien, Taiwan, Thursday, July 6, 2023. The picturesque region, known for its majestic mountains that overlook the Pacific, gets its name from the phrase "huilan," a reference to the swirling currents of the Hualien River where it meets the Pacific Ocean. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Tzu Chi CEO Po-wen Yen speaks during an interview at the Jing Si Abode in Hualien, Taiwan, Thursday, July 6, 2023. The former head of the United Microelectronics Corporation, a major semi-conductor manufacturer in Taiwan, is well aware of the criticism about the organization’s wealth. “You can say that all the resources we gathered is to help to the fullest extent possible when disaster strikes,” he says, adding that their budget also funds other global chapters. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Tzu Chi volunteers listen to Buddhist teachings before setting out on a volunteer mission in the assembly hall of Jing Si Abode in Hualien, Taiwan, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Joe Hwang, Tzu Chi's head of volunteer affairs, explains the literature and history of the early relief of the poor undertaken by the organization, at the Jing Si Hall in Hualien, Taiwan, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Tzu Chi’s humanitarian aid efforts is inextricable from the faith, says Hwang, though it's a departure from traditional Buddhism which espouses a retreat from the world. Religion, he said, is a way to guide people towards good and equip them to help others. “That’s what I think engaged Buddhism is, that we are engaged in this world.” (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Stephen Huang, executive director of Tzu Chi's global volunteers based in California, speaks at the Tzu Chi Service Center' store in El Monte, Calif., on Friday, April 5, 2024. Huang became Cheng Yen’s disciple 35 years ago, during a time of personal grief — days after his older brother’s sudden demise. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)