Each meal, a heart

Mr. Toan prepares meals for patients at Da Nang Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital. Photo: NGOC HUYEN

At 5am, Mr. Tran Van Toan and his wife rushed to the market to buy fresh food to prepare. With the support of volunteers and relatives, each ingredient was pre-processed and cooked so that the meal was quickly completed, ensuring it was hot when it reached the patient. This is a familiar charity meal for many patients being treated at Da Nang Hospital, Oncology Hospital, and Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital for about 2 years now. It is known that the funding comes from philanthropists, and Mr. Toan and his wife contributed to cooking and being the "bridge" to deliver it directly to the patient.

Before each cooking session, the benefactors will send Mr. Toan an amount of money corresponding to the number of meals they want to support (each meal is worth about 20,000 VND) and the menu is also flexibly changed accordingly. “In the past, I started my business by selling Hue-style sandwiches and filming videos, posting them on social networks to share, including the charity bread distribution activity. Thanks to the spread of the internet, I received support from many people far away by sending money to make more sandwiches and distribute them to more patients.

Later, I switched to preparing hot dishes such as vermicelli, pho, porridge, soup, etc. to make it easier for people to eat," he shared. With each trip to deliver food to hospitals, Toan directly recorded images and videos to post on the TikTok channel "Startup at 27", both as transparent documents and with the hope of inspiring and spreading stories of kindness for the community.

At first, Toan was the only one in charge of the kitchen, while his wife was in charge of the kitchen. Later, there was more support and attention from charitable organizations and individuals... In particular, many young people volunteered to regularly support the small kitchen. Participating in the kitchen, Le Quang Viet (born in 2005), a student at Duy Tan University, said: "After a period of participation, I have learned a lot from Toan about perseverance and how to share love with everyone. Helping the community with him and his wife also creates joy for myself."

Having gotten used to the schedule of Mr. Toan's group, many people lined up early to receive their meals. "Every time I see the charity kitchen, I am very happy. Taking care of a sick child, the money in the house is only enough to pay for medicine. Thanks to these meals, I have been able to ease some of my burden. I and everyone here are grateful for the kindness of the children, the brothers and sisters, and the benefactors," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Van (born in 1987, Hoa Quy ward, Ngu Hanh Son district), a relative of a patient at the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital.

With the contributions of Mr. Toan and his wife in the past time, recently, he and his wife were honored by Da Nang Hospital for their many positive contributions in supporting disadvantaged patients at the unit. Previously, he and his wife were also honored by the Da Nang Center for Children in Difficult Situations (Association for the Support of Poor Women and Children of the City) with the title "Golden Heart at Hope Village". Having started participating in volunteer activities since the age of 15, now, on the journey to make a living, although the conditions are not too abundant, he still hopes that he can contribute in the spirit of "having money to contribute money, having strength to contribute strength" to share with everyone.

KHANH HOI - NGOC HUYEN

Source: https://baodanang.vn/channel/5433/202504/moi-suat-an-mot-tam-long-4004805/