Responding to the emulation movement 'a good deed of each union member-a meaningful action of each association' launched by the Manipulation Women's Union (WU), women's union members in Hoa Khanh Nam Ward, Lien Chieu District, Da Nang have implemented numerous practical models and tasks to join hands with local authorities to take care for people's lives.

Member of the 'Khanh Son Women's Volunteering' group prepare meals for needy people. Photo: L.P

For more than 5 months now, on the full moon day and the 1^st day of the lunar month, the 0-VND vegetarian kitchen at 212 Hoang Van Thai, Hoa Khanh Nam ward has regularly served hundreds of free lunches to people. The kitchen was established in mid-March 2022 by Ms Le Thi Thuy Linh, Head of 6 Da Son Women's Union, Hoa Khanh Nam Ward, and other local women.

As the main chef, Ms Phan Thi Thiep, Head of the Residential Front Committee is in charge of planning the menu and the quantity of food to be prepared on a daily basis. To have enough money to operate the kitchen, Ms Linh has usually called for and mobilized relatives, friends, and other people to help. As a result, every month, the kitchen serves about 400 to 500 free vegetarian meals to the poor with a total budget of around VND 2.5 to 3 million

In addition to distributing meals on the spot, the women in the WU have also brought meals to the houses of elderly people living alone in residential areas. During the recent typhoon No. 4 (Noru), Ms Linh deducted a part of the cost used for operating the kitchen to donate rice and instant noodles to support households facing difficulties due to the impact of the storm. On holidays, and mid-autumn festivals, she has often coordinated with other local WU units to mobilize hundreds of gifts including necessities and cash to send to poor households, the lonely elderly, the disabled, and orphans to encourage the spirit of the less fortunate.

In the same vein, for more than a year now, the model '0-VND breakfast' of Women's Unions 2 and 3 in Khanh Son, Hoa Khanh Nam Ward, has become a familiar destination for disadvantaged people in the area. The starting point of the model was dated back to 2021 through the activity of cooking meals to support people in the blockaded areas and workers returning to their hometowns to avoid the pandemic. Having found the effectiveness and meaning it brought, the units decided to establish the 'Khanh Son Women's Charity' group and maintain the model of "0-VND breakfast” till now.

On the full moon day and the 1^st day of the lunar calendar every month, members of the group prepare porridge, Quang noodles, vermicelli and soup to distribute for free to needy people, the elderly, and children in the residential area. Besides, the volunteer group also regularly cooks and donates hundreds of meals to patients at Lien Chieu District Medical Center, Da Nang Cancer Hospital to share some of the difficulties with patients.

Similarly, the 7 Da Son Women's Union, which won the Lien Chieu District's Typical Women's Union Award in 2021, has a wide range of activities to take care of the welfare of local people. As the matter of fact, most of the union members in the area are unskilled labourers, and stallholders, and some members have precarious jobs, so their income is not stable. Therefore, the union has regularly supported capital, knowledge, and skills and found solutions to help women improve their lives.

According to Mr Tran Minh Phuong, Vice Chairman of the Hoa Khanh Nam ward-based Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee, with the particularity of the locality with a large concentration of workers, students, and unskilled workers, the whole ward political system has identified that the work of taking care of social security is a regular and continuous task needing the cooperation of the whole society.

In that spirit, together with the government, the Front and other associations and mass organizations, the ward Women's Union at all levels have carried out many practical and meaningful charitable activities, strongly oriented towards the grassroots units, focusing on caring for the welfare of the poor households, disadvantaged households, poor women, lonely elderly people, orphans, to join hands with localities to ensure social security in the locality

Reporting by LAM PHUONG - Translating by T.VY