While the city celebrated Lunar New Year at the malls, another hundred people did so by lining up around the parkade at Kingsgate Mall on Saturday morning.
The crowd was there for the Jean Ip Foundation’s Celebration of the Spring Festival 2026, held at the Save-On-Foods at East Broadway in Mount Pleasant.
The event offered free jasmine rice and a $25 Save-On-Foods gift card to anyone aged 65 or older, with 1,000 sets available on a first come, first served basis.
Save On Foods on Kingsway and Broadway
by u/Altruistic-Crow3571 in vancouver
It started at 10 AM, but the footage shared on Reddit showed the line had stretched well beyond the store entrance, wrapping around the mall’s parking lot.
Staff and volunteers in yellow vests could be seen managing the crowd.
The event was jointly organized by the Jean Ip Foundation, PriceSmart Foods, and Save-On-Foods.
The foundation runs multiple events like this throughout the year across Metro Vancouver, including a Summer Amazing Grace event and an Annual Seniors Day, typically held at PriceSmart Foods locations in Richmond and Burnaby.
At past events, the foundation has distributed up to 1,000 gifts per location, each including a bag of rice and a $25 gift card.
In 2025, the foundation held a similar Spring Festival celebration and also welcomed 1,000 seniors to its Annual Seniors Day at a PriceSmart Foods in Richmond.
In July 2024, it distributed 1,000 gifts of rice and PriceSmart Foods gift cards at the Richmond PriceSmart location in partnership with the Richmond Chinese Community Society and the Rotary Club of Dragon.
Several Reddit commenters noted that this kind of giveaway happens every year around Lunar New Year and sometimes during the summer as well.
Save-On-Foods at Kingsgate Mall opened in May 2024 after replacing the former Buy-Low Foods at the same location.
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