Some elders are having free lunch at Zhangjiabian Aged-care Center.[Photo by Zhao Xuemin]  

Uncle Ming, who lives alone in Zhangjiabian Community in Torch Zone, came to the community aged-care center to enjoy his lunch for free on November 13. After finishing the meal, he had a chat with neighbors, and then went home with joy.

So far in Zhongshan, 6 townships including Torch Zone, Xiaolan, Sanxiang, Shaxi, Shiqi District and South District have already developed “elders’ canteen” of similar kind.

Days before, Zhongshan Civil Affairs Bureau released an implementation plan for food distribution focusing on elderly people living alone, elderly people of no family, disabled old people, and other elders with special difficulties.

The implementation plan requires each township to build at least one “elders’ canteen” by 2020 and set up a number of food distribution sites, which guarantees every elder in demand can enjoy free meal. Each township can also establish charity funds to finance the food distribution service in long term.