On the first anniversary of the end of the COVID-19 lockdown in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, the China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) and PepsiCo Greater China Region jointly launched a charity initiative called Happy Things in the Spring and Salute to Ordinary Heroes in the city to provide frontline pandemic prevention and control workers with anti-COVID supplies.
US soft drink and snack food giant PepsiCo pledged that it would donate 0.1 yuan from the sales of each bag of Lay's potato chips, sold by Zhongbai Warehouse, Zhongbai Convenience Store and Zhongbai Lawson Convenience Store, from March 25 to April 25 to the charity campaign. The collected funds will be managed and implemented by the CWDF to purchase parcels filled with anti-COVID supplies for traffic police, couriers, food delivery drivers, sanitation workers and other frontline workers.
As an integral part of the charity initiative, "Lay’s Service Stations" will be set up in 20 Zhongbai Lawson convenience stores across the city, where frontline workers can find hot water and facilities to heat cold food during breaks from their physically challenging work.
"It is an honor for our firm to work with Zhongbai Holding Group and the CWDF to convey the highest respect to all people working on the frontline of the COVID-19 prevention and control in Wuhan, a heroic city successfully recovered from the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 in early 2020. The stories behind each ordinary hero are very touching. We are deeply grateful for their tireless struggles in aiding the city in the resumption of its socioeconomic affairs. Their strong dedication to personal work has encouraged us to provide our clients with high-quality services," said Xie Chang'an, senior vice-CEO and general-manager of the Department of Food Affairs of PepsiCo, at the opening ceremony.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CWDF has successfully raised funds totaling 280 million yuan with the support of charitable firms and people from all walks of life to purchase medical supplies and other materials urgently needed on the frontlines. In addition, it has contributed to the success of containing the spread of the contagious disease by sending nutritional food parcels to medical workers, purchasing medical equipment for them, and distributing Caring Parcels for Family Health among pandemic-affected people.
As the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, the CWDF and PepsiCo will continue to support and care for all people working on the frontlines of pandemic prevention and control.