For many years, on Sunday afternoons every week, members of the "Com Yeu Thuong" Club have regularly set up a kitchen, cooking free meals to send to pediatric patients and their families being treated at the National Hospital of Pediatrics (Hanoi).
Meals are prepared from the joint efforts of philanthropists, with the desire to share some of the difficulties with the patient's families.
Present at the meal distribution point, Ms. Tran Thi Hai (Ninh Binh) and her son went to Hanoi for a medical examination for more than a week. This is the first time the two mothers and children have received a free meal from the Club. The simple meal with eggs, meat, vegetables, milk but full of nutrition, made the recipient unable to hide his emotions.
This is a very practical and warm action, adding motivation to families with children being treated for illness. Meals like this bring a feeling of sharing and loving" - Ms. Hai shared.
The Com Yeu Thuong Club was officially established in 2017. Currently, the Club has 21 core members, along with more than 2,000 volunteers and collaborators participating in supporting each phase. Each week, the group distributes about 450 meals and 200 porridges, focusing on serving families in difficult circumstances.
Currently, the Club is facilitated to use the yard area of a business near the gate of the National Children's Hospital as a rice distribution point. This activity has been maintained for many years, becoming familiar to pediatric patients' families. At the rice distribution time, people line up themselves, prioritizing children first, adults later.
Sharing with Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien - Head of the Loving Rice Club group said that the motivation for forming the Club stemmed from her personal experience when she used to take her child for treatment at the National Children's Hospital.
During the long days waiting for examination, I witnessed many families from distant provinces coming to Hanoi to treat their children, not having enough money for food and drinks. Some people buy a meal or porridge for their children, the rest the parents only dare to eat leftovers. A porridge is only a few thousand VND, but for many people at that time it is also a problem" - Ms. Hien shared.
According to Ms. Hien, the group pays special attention to preparing meals for pediatric patients. The menu is carefully built, ensuring nutrition, easy to digest and suitable for young children. Dishes are changed alternately between chicken, pork, beef, eggs; vegetables and fruits are seasonal. In addition to the main meal, each portion of rice also has boxed milk for young children.
All ingredients are carefully selected. Some people are in charge of preparing the menu a few days in advance, others go to the market, choose fresh food. We do it with responsibility and caution, because the target customers are children being treated for illness" - Ms. Hien said.
Sharing about the message that the Club wants to spread, Ms. Hien said: "We don't expect anything great, we just hope that small meals can bring warmth, so that love touches love. Then, life will become more positive and better.
