Carrying the Smiling Mid-Autumn Forward: PatientsForce and the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders Invite Companies into the Rare Home
AI-translated from the Chinese original · editorially reviewed
Entering its second Smiling Mid-Autumn, the Smiling Mid-Autumn Ambassador corporate programme — run by Media-WIND Health Holdings (PatientsForce) together with the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders — has a strong year behind it. Since its launch in November 2025, the programme has brought nine leading companies from across industries on board, and more than 1,000 employees have stepped into the life stories of families living with rare disease, taking part in craft workshops led by rare-disease artisans and carrying empathy and inclusion back into their own workplace cultures.
Since 2014, the PatientsForce group has marked each Mid-Autumn Festival with the Smiling Mid-Autumn programme, guided by the principle of giving meaning rather than gifts and directing resources to rural healthcare, education grants, charitable trusts and families in need — a practice now more than a decade old. This year's continued work with the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders returns the focus to the voices of patients themselves, bringing their stories into companies as a source of growth for the people who work there.
From a single event to a movement for workplace inclusion
Nine major companies and over a thousand employees took part in one year, and the corporate HR experience programme is set to expand further through 2026–2027. The Smiling Mid-Autumn speaker corps has featured life ambassadors living with a range of rare conditions — including Armstrong syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Miyoshi distal myopathy, lymphangioleiomyomatosis and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy — each sharing first-hand the resilience their condition has demanded. Through immersive craft sessions and personal storytelling, employees deepen their understanding of rare disease while helping their companies meet ESG and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) commitments in concrete terms.
Recognising that the bond between companies and rare-disease families needs deeper understanding to last, Media-WIND and the Foundation have announced that from the second half of 2026 the Smiling Mid-Autumn Ambassador programme will expand into three strands: rare-disease life ambassadors speaking inside companies; a day at the Guanxi Rare Home built for corporate HR and CSR teams, intended to open deeper opportunities for volunteering and life education through direct experience; and a preview of November's Rare Artisans Month, a limited-edition handmade bag initiative inviting wider participation.
Chen Kuan-ju, Chief Executive Officer of the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders, thanked Media-WIND and its partner companies for acting as a bridge between philanthropy and corporate social responsibility, helping more corporate partners come to know rare-disease families and deepening understanding of diversity and inclusion. In the second half of this year, she said, the collaboration extends to the Guanxi Rare Home, where corporate partners are invited to see for themselves how these families live and what they need, opening further room for exchange and cooperation.
Sean Chang, Chairman of PatientsForce, said the Smiling Mid-Autumn is not a one-off festival activity but an attempt to keep rare disease visible and understood through a long-term, systematic model of corporate partnership. Looking to 2026 and 2027, he said, Media-WIND will continue working with the Foundation and the HR professional community to bring more companies into the Guanxi Rare Home, so that care and smiles take root in more workplaces.
Letting understanding light the Mid-Autumn
PatientsForce has held to a patient-centred principle since it was founded, from patient support programmes and charitable trusts through to a continuing set of social initiatives. Through this year's work with the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders, PatientsForce hopes to share the thinking behind the Smiling Mid-Autumn with more companies and with the wider public. Companies can apply through the AI assistant at www.patientsforce.com.tw, or contact the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders through its own site.
“Love never ends.” This Mid-Autumn, that line travels between companies and the wider public with every life story shared.
Media contacts
PatientsForce, Media-WIND Health Holdings Olivia Chang olivia.chang@media-wind.com.tw
Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders, Public Relations Claire Li pr05@tfrd.org.tw +886 2 2521-0717 ext. 135
Pictured: the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders' Guanxi Rare Home. From the second half of 2026, corporate HR and CSR teams can book a day there through the Smiling Mid-Autumn Ambassador programme.