Yahoo Finance Rice ATMs feed the homeless, jobless amid coronavirus
Donors in Vietnam have set up free rice ATMs across Hue, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, to help those who have been significantly affected by the coronavirus.
Volunteers at colleges in the city of Hue have set up one ATM, with donors supplying free rice to poorer local residents, who can take two kilograms at a time.
In Hanoi, a large water tank pours three kilograms of rice into residents’ bags from 8am to 5pm each day, and will operate until the end of the month, local news outlet Hanoi Times reported.
Those waiting in line are required to stand six feet apart from each other and they must use hand sanitiser before receiving their rice.
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62-year old cancer patient, Tran Thi Lanh, said the ATMs were a huge help.
“I rented a place next to the Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital and live on garbage collection,” she told Hanoi Times.
“This amount of rice is enough to feed me in four days. I'm very happy."
Residents in Ho Chi Minh City can access free rice from a rice dispenser that operates 24/7, while two more ‘rice ATMs’ will be set up in the province of Da Nang next week.
The Da Nang City Young Businessmen Association said it has collected 40 tonnes of rice from donors across the city so far, and plans to gather more, with the ATMs expected to operate until the end of June.
Another charity in Da Nang has given 1,500 bottles of watermelon juice to doctors, nurses and medical workers at the Covid-19 hospitals, while donors in the Thua Thien-Hue province have collected 4,000 face masks and 1,000 hand sanitisers to give to poorer locals.
Vietnam currently has 265 coronavirus cases, but zero deaths.
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