 Free meals are given to the poor in Ca Mau province. (Photo: VOV) |
In early July, the Ca Mau provincial People’s Committee ordered restaurants to close or offer delivery only as the province ramped up its effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. As quickly as they could, Nguyen Chi Nguyen and his wife of Ward No.5 shut their restaurant and cooked for charity. At first, the couple planned to cook 200 portions each day for three days for lottery ticket sellers, laid-off builders, and those losing part of their income due to the pandemic. Their good deed has encouraged others to donate rice, money, and other necessities. Their friends and neighbors have also come to cook with the couple so it has continued until now.
Nguyen said, “Almost all lottery ticket sellers are poor. They rent rooms to live. They are the most vulnerable in this pandemic. From the bottom of my heart, I want to do something for them. They used to come to my place to pick up their food. But now they are unable to do so because of travel restriction. I travel to slums to deliver food to their doors. The poor people are touched and really happy.”
In Ca Mau city, there are around ten kitchens giving free meals to the poor, most of them in ward No. 8, where a zero-VND market is opening. Volunteers wearing their signature blue shirts are commonly spotted there.
Tran Thi Nhan of ward No.6 used to sell lottery tickets to earn her living but this pandemic has made her jobless due to precautionary measures. She went to the zero-VND market on Nguyen Cong Tru street, ward No. 8, to get some lilies, just enough for herself, because she knew if everyone takes more than what they need, nothing will be left for other people in need. That’s the way the underprivileged still care and share for others.
Nhan said, “All my family members are jobless. We can’t afford our meals. It’s such a great help for us to be given free food.”
 Fresh ingredients are given out free of charge. (Photo: VOV) |
To Quy Hien, Deputy Secretary of ward No. 8’s Party Communal Committee, said, “We have always helped poor people during social distancing. We had rice ATMs for the previous social distancing. This time, we called on philanthropists to cook free meals and had young volunteers deliver them to poor people in lockdown areas. We have also set up stalls of free meals for those in need.”
The Ca Mau Lottery Company has donated 10 tons of rice and the Ca Mau Trading Company has presented 2,000 boxes of instant noodles to frontline workers, those who work at checkpoints and quarantine areas, and poor households.
Nguyen Tien Hung, a philanthropist, said, “Young volunteers, militia, and grassroots authorities are on duty round the clock at checkpoints. We hope these heart-warming donations will encourage them to stick to their mission. We are in this together.”
These acts are a testament that humanity shines through the gloom of COVID-19.