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| Phở Master Chef Chef Lê thị Thiết (2nd from left) and Chef Nguyễn Thị Ánh (third left) and other chefs of Hanoi Food Bank hand over goods to Monk Thích Nguyên Bình (first left). Photo courtesy of Hanoi Food Bank |
HÀ NỘI The Hà Nội Professional Chef Guild (HPC) has started a new charity project, the Hanoi Food Bank, that will give staple foods to people in need.
The Hanoi Food Bank went on its first trip on March 7 to deliver food to children living at Thiên Hương Pagoda in Hưng Yên Province, about an hour from Hà Nội.
Chef Hà Hải Đoàn, HPC President, told Việt Nam News that the food bank is an initiative to connect resources to people who need them.
“We hope to make one trip or organise one event a month,” he said.
The chefs involved in the programme all have hectic schedules, as they either work at five-star hotels or own restaurants or other businesses in Hà Nội. But they are all connected by one common desire: to do good and help others.
At Thiên Hương Pagoda, Most Venerable Thích Nguyên Bình is currently raising 42 children, who have ended up in his care due to different circumstances.
“We used to have more than 60 children living here, but some have grown up to go find jobs, and some have been adopted by other families,” he told Việt Nam News.
The eldest child raised under his care is now a young man who has gone to learn a craft.
The youngest child is five months old, and was left at the pagoda because he was born with Down syndrome.
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| Chef Nguyễn Thị Ánh knew the children would not like to have green shallots in their favourite soup. Photos courtesy of Hanoi Food Bank |
Chef Nguyễn Thị Ánh, HPC’s Vice President, oversees the charity work of the guild.
Ánh said: “We want to develop Hanoi Food Bank so that more people in need, including children in difficult circumstances and patients at hospitals, get help from our food bank.”
The team prepared special chicken noodle soup for the children at the pagoda. The noodles were supplied by a company owned by Phở Master Chef Lê Thị Thiết, who has worked to organise a series of activities at the Phở Festival in Hà Nội and Nam Định Province.
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| Chef Vũ Đức Thanh offers first-class service to the children, who happily slurp down the delicious noodles. Photo courtesy of Hà Nội Food Bank |
The shredded chicken was freshly prepared, and the chefs got everything ready for the children when they came back after school. VNS
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