Donated food is delivered to a restaurant near Changshou Road, Shanghai, where a “Sharing Fridge” has been set up. [Photo: The Paper]

A new "Sharing Fridge", or a food bank with free food available", was set up at a day activity center for the aged in Shanghai's Puxiongxinyuan residential community in Putuo District early this month.

This is the second of its kind in the city. Shanghai's first "Sharing Fridge" appeared on September 28 at the entrance of a restaurant near Changshou Road, which was based on an honor system, and intended to be free to those who need help getting a meal.

The "Sharing Fridge" has since drawn great attention from the public, arousing kindness from society. Both individuals and institutions bring food or vegetables, reports thepaper.cn.

"Last night, a man visiting Shanghai specially brought 20 boxes of egg fried rice and 20 pieces of bread, hoping to help the needy. Besides food, some even donated household goods such as hand sanitizer, kitchen knives, chopping boards and chopsticks," thepaper.cn quoted Mr. Yang, the boss of a restaurant where a "Sharing Fridge" has been set up, as saying.

Unlike the early looting phenomenon, when some would take advantage of others' kindness when the fridge was first used, with more donations, The Paper found that only a few people try to take more than their share from the Food Bank now.

Now, the main concern of most is the quality of the donated food and their expiration dates. Some doubted that food which is about to expire is donated in the name of charity, The Paper reports.

"Generally, donated food is chosen and put into the fridge by our staff, donators are not allowed to do that themselves in order to guarantee that the food is safe," Mr. Yang told The Paper.

Yang hopes that donators can provide food with a marked expiration date. Further, items like kitchen knives will not be received any more because of possible dangers to others.

For now, the restaurant is trying to integrate live video streaming, hoping to link the surveillance camera to the internet. As a result, both the staff and public can keep an eye on uncivilized behaviors and guarantee food safety.