Charity porridge for poor patients

• More than 10,000 people join Fund Run for Charity in HCM City
• UK ambassador to participate in charity run
• Bill Gates gives $4.6bn to charity in biggest donation since 2000

The Autumn charity group delivers porridge to poor patients

At 2pm on Saturday and Sunday, the Autumn charity group and their friends give hundreds of porridge boxes to patients. If the patients cannot queue to get porridge, the group’s members take porridge to their beds and never forget to wish that they to get better soon.

70-year-old Nguyen Thi Bai who is hospitalized in Thanh Nhan hospital said, “We are moved to receive porridge from kindhearted young people. We thank them a lot for helping patients in difficult circumstances. They bring porridge to old and seriously ill people. We treasure such hearts of gold.”

Thanh Thi Thu Luong, head of the Autumn group, says that four years ago she and four friends started cooking and delivering porridge to child patients at the Vietnam National Hospital for Pediatrics. At first the patients hesitated to receive free porridge. Eventually they told others of the delicious and nutritious meals. The Autumn group now has 100 members cooking and delivering 5,200 free porridge boxes every week.

Thu Luong said, “Kindheartedness is the essence of human beings and they will come together to help others. I’m proud of my friends. This work takes a lot of time and dedication. Porridge to be delivered to hospital patients must meet certain quality requirements.”

Do Viet Hung said they work voluntarily with the motto “To give is to receive”. “Before joining the group, I used to drink coffee with my friends on weekends. Now I feel I’m spending my life more meaningfully. My children have joined our work and they do it better than we do. We don’t do it for profit. We feel content that our work is useful to society.”

More and more people have begun to support the group. Vu Hai Van said, “The group is expanding its membership. We share love and want our children to grow up with compassion and kindness.”

A proverb says a bite when you are hungry is worth a pack of food when you are full. Free porridge provides emotional support as well as meal.

Le Thi Huong Lan, a nurse at Thanh Nhan hospital, said, “Their work encourages and shares the burden of the patients. It’s not just about a bowl of porridge, it’s compassionate. We hope they will continue to help ease poor patients’ hardship.”

The Autumn group has raised money to help poor patients, build schools for pupils in mountainous regions, and support the relatives of fallen soldiers.