Farmer sets up communal kitchen so sick children receive homemade meals

Parents who accompany their children receiving treatment in hospitals in Harbin, North China's Heilongjiang province, are benefiting from the generosity of a man who set up a communal kitchen where they can cook meals for their vulnerable kids for free.

Over the past five months, about 50 parents have used the kitchen Jia Wenyin established to cook free, homemade food and use kitchenware free of charge to make the meals for their children who suffer from leukemia.

Jia, 43, a farmer in Xinhe village, Harbin's Shuangcheng district, rents a 30-square-meter apartment close to the First Affiliated University of Harbin Medical University.

In June 2017, his 13-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia and doctors told Jia to pay strict attention to the boy's daily meals.

"The hospital is one of the best in the province, so many young patients have traveled long distances for the better care," Jia said. "The parents or relatives usually sleep in a hospital room or local cheap hotels, but they cannot get clean and convenient cooking facilities," he said.

"As a father who relates to this situation, I just want to do something for them," he said. "Home-cooked food is the best way for their children and it is also cheaper."

Jia has received great support from his family, friends and well-wishers.

"Warm-hearted people donated rice, flour, cooking oil and money to the kitchen," he said. "A distant relative in Datong, Shanxi province gave me 15,000 yuan ($2,232) to pay for the rent. He told me that he was deeply moved by what I did, even though he never met me."