HCM CITY — The Charity Meal Project on Tuesday was launched in HCM City to provide free pork, rice and other food items to shelters, centres and nursing homes that take care of people with disabilities and the elderly throughout the country.

At the launch ceremony, 500 kilos of pork and 1,000 chicken eggs were presented to Thị Nghè Social Welfare Centre for Orphans with Serious Disabilities, Thạnh Lộc Social Welfare Centre for Paralysed People, Thiên Ân Shelter and Vinh Sơn Old People’s Nursing Home, all in HCM City, and the Cần Thơ Social Work Centre.

The project’s volunteers visited the Thị Nghè Social Welfare Centre for Orphans with Serious Disabilities in HCM City’s Bình Thạnh District to cook with the centre’s staff.

The meals were made with pork, rice and other food presented by the Charity Meal project.

The centre is home to 380 orphans with serious disabilities, Dr Lê Thị Hương Lan, the centre’s deputy head, said.

The subsidy from the city’s government is insufficient for all of the centre’s operations, Lan said.

As part of the project, pork and other food will be sold at low prices to charity programmes such as Charity Kitchen, Fund for Students in Mountainous Areas, and the 2000 Rice Store chain.

The project is a part of a programme, launched on May 31, called "Support Farmers – Price Subsidy to Consumers" that helps farmers sell their unsold pigs.

The programme is carried out by the Central Committee of Việt Nam Youth Federation, DSF Việt Nam Co Ltd, C.P. Việt Nam’s charity fund.

The programme, which will last until the end of June, includes many activities, fairs and booths to sell pork at subsidised prices in the provinces of Đồng Nai, Bình Phước, and Bình Dương and in HCM City and Cần Thơ City.

It has bought more than 100 tonnes of pork from farmers to sell to residents, including workers at industrial parks and export processing zone, at VNĐ35,000-42,000 (US$1.5-1.8) per kilo.

The programme has attracted large companies in the food processing and breeding sector. — VNS