“Millions of meals” supports flood-hit children in central region

Presenting gifts to children in Nui Thanh and Tien Phuoc districts in Quang Nam and Danang

In October 2020, a collection of floods and natural disasters ravaged Central Vietnam and affected children at SOS Vinh, Dong Hoi, Hue, Danang, putting at risk vulnerable communities across four provinces from Nghe An to Quang Nam.

PepsiCo’s “Millions of meals” programme targeted these vulnerable communities. In partnership with SOS Vietnam, the programme supported the distribution of meals for residents of SOS centres and Youth Dormitories SOS Dong Hoi and Hue. Children from 700 households were aided by this programme, supporting families in several provinces and cities like Danang, Quang Nam, and Nghe An.

The distribution of meals took place from January 18 to 23. Each family received 100 meals, totaling over 93,000 ready-to-eat meals. The meals included rice bags, dried pork, canned fish, oil cans, sugar, salt, and boxes of instant noodles.

The programme lifted the sprits of these communities in anticipation of the Lunar New Year and sought to improve the living standards of people who experienced losses due to natural disasters in affected localities including Nghe An, Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue, Danang, and Quang Nam.

The “Millions of Meals” programme responds to the prime minister's “No one is left behind” initiative. It was initiated in April 2020 and has so far provided nearly 540,000 meals for 37,000 residents affected by COVID-19, with an approximate investment of VND8 billion ($347,820). Furthermore, in November 2020, the programme ran activities to provide an additional 150,000 meals for 9,000 people in six central provinces to help support them overcome their immediate aftermath of the natural disasters.

“It is our honour to continuously collaborate with preeminent partners to implement the Millions of Meals programme,” said Sudipto Mozumdar, general manager of PepsiCo Vietnam and Thailand, “Through this programme, we believe not only SOS Vietnam but also central residents will have a warm Tet festival after being impacted by natural disasters. The wider our initiative spreads, the more meals will be delivered to children and central residents across Vietnam.”