Kindness one can consume

The "solidarity fridge" in the community center in Putuo district has been well received. Its contents are almost always cleared out before noon every day. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

A look at the food banks in Shanghai which were set up by Shanghai Oasis Ecological Conservation and Communication Center, and the support they have been receiving from enterprises foreign and domestic

The "solidarity fridges" which first appeared in Spain last year made their debut in Shanghai earlier in October, and reception to this concept of sharing leftovers with the needy in society has been overwhelmingly positive.

Thirty food items, including milk, yogurt, rice cakes and canned food provided by supermarkets and restaurants, are placed in a fridge in a community activity center on Puxiong Road, Putuo district, every weekday. All residents of the community can help themselves to the items.

Wang Longying, a volunteer who helps residents with the registration required before they are allowed to take the items, said that the fridge is almost always cleared out before noon every day.

On the other side of the community activity center, however, there are also food shelves stocked with items such as rice, cooking oil, biscuits and milk powder. Only impoverished families in the community can access this selection and each family is limited to one food item per month.

The Shanghai Oasis Ecological Conservation and Communication Center, a Shanghai-based nongovernment organization, has since 2014 set up four such food banks in the districts of Pudong, Putuo and Changning. In the past two years, about 120 tons of food have been donated by more than 40 businesses, benefiting over 50,000 residents.