Following the 1999 earthquake, Liao was deeply impressed by the extended and sincere work done by outside volunteers who were helping to rebuild Chungliao. Amongst them were Yu Chao-ching, professor of architecture at Chung Yuan Christian University; Yang Jui-chen, one of Yu's students; and Feng Hsiao-fei, who was publishing the newspaper.
921 地震後，廖學堂認識一些義工，如中原大學建築系教授喻肇青、他的學生楊瑞禎建築師，辦報的馮小非等「外地人」。