The Food Bank Đà Nẵng and “Đà Nẵng Food Community” programme being launched on August 10 to help mitigate hunger and reduce food waste. — Photo Courtesy of Food Bank Việt Nam

ĐÀ NẴNG — The Đà Nẵng Red Cross Society, in collaboration with the Vietnam Food Bank Network, on August 10 launched a food bank and the “Đà Nẵng Food Community” programme to tackle hunger, reduce food waste, and promote sustainable consumption.

Food Bank Đà Nẵng seeks to build a community “for a Việt Nam without hunger and food waste” through sustainable, humane solutions.

The programme also focuses on providing nutritional and food safety knowledge while taking surplus food from restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, and other sources to orphanages, open houses and charity kitchens to ensure good-quality surplus food is delivered to people who need it.

The programme also establishes a multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism that will enable timely food distribution during natural disasters, disease outbreaks and other emergencies.

Organisers expect the initiative to also raise public awareness about sustainable consumption and healthy diets.

Lê Thị Như Hồng, chairwoman of the Đà Nẵng Red Cross Society, said the launch reflects solidarity and compassion in the community, and would be a sustainable bridge between donors, businesses and people in difficult circumstances.

The Đà Nẵng Red Cross has vowed to mobilise all possible resources to make the project effective and spread its humanitarian values across every neighbourhood and shelter in the city.

Chairman of the Vietnam Food Bank Network, Nguyễn Tuấn Khởi, said this is not just a local initiative but a step forward in building a humanitarian and sustainable food ecosystem in Việt Nam.

“Each community food bank is more than a warehouse—it is a place that inspires kindness, encourages sharing and connects social resources with one common goal: no one is left behind.”

The Vietnam Food Bank Network, founded in 2016, seeks to “Leave no one behind” by collecting, storing and distributing good-quality surplus food to those in need.

It has provided direct support to more than 11 million people nationwide, distributing over 53 million kilograms of food and more than 21 million meals and assisting 848 social organisations.

It boasts over 2,500 volunteers.

It has established food banks in a number of provinces and cities. — VNS