Free meals enrich both volunteers, receivers

Vinh Long (VNA) - Hospital staff and the Red Cross Society have enriched the lives of both poor patients and themselves at the Tam Binh hospital, southern Vinh Long province.

They have been providing free meals for the needy since they established a special
unit 10 years ago.

"The meals are delicious and very meaningful to the poor," says 53-year-old
patient Tran Thi Hiep.

The humanitarian unit that provides the meals was established in 1998 with 10
staff and many difficulties, said its accountant Le Thi Tuyet Mai.

"We had to borrow 18 million VND (1,050 USD) during the first two years and were
not able to repay the loans until 2001 with the help of many benefactors," she
said.

The unit now has 14 six member teams of volunteers. Each takes turn to prepare
meals for patients and their family carers. When not working at the hospital, the
teams raise funds to support the work.

The cooking team is provided 450kg of rice each week and the number of meals
provided to the poor patients at the hospital, in the Tam Binh district, averages
200 to 250 every week. But the figure can also be as high as 400.

The cooking team also supplies the patients with boiling water.

"These activities are very important to the poor patients, especially as Tam Binh
district is a poor one," said hospital deputy director Phan Thi Thu Ha.

According to Mai the unit's expenses are announced at the monthly meetings of all
the cooking teams in accordance with the rules set by its founder, monk Thich
Phuoc Thien of the district's Phuoc Quang Pagoda.

The monk knows that charity springs from a warm heart without thought of benefit
in return.

Only pure-hearted humanitarians can accept the long hours the staff work, he
said.-Enditem