Chinese Mogul Offers $300 and Free Lunch to Poor in U.S.
June 19, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
The flamboyant Chinese philanthropist Chen Guangbiao is inviting “poor and destitute Americans” to a charity lunch in Manhattan next week and offering $300 cash handouts to all who attend, CNN reports, citing Chinese media.
In a full-page advertisement in Monday’s New York Times, Mr. Chen announced plans to host the free luncheon for 1,000 people at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park on June 25. The bilingual ad features side-by-side photos of Mr. Chen and Lei Fung, a soldier in Mao-era China who is nationally celebrated as a selfless model citizen.
Mr. Chen, who made his fortune in the recycling business, was the first Chinese tycoon to take up the Giving Pledge and is known for charity-related publicity stunts that have been criticized as self-aggrandizing. He said the goal of the lunch is to show Americans that there are Chinese philanthropists.
