Let no one succumb to hunger: Prudential installs rice ‘ATMs’ in many provinces

HCM CITY  Having gone through a tough year, Việt Nam nowadays stays strong and resilient with many real-life fairy tales of sharing care, love and support.

Installing rice ‘ATMs’ was one of the most amazing initiatives to help needy people overcome hunger when the Covid- 一 九 pandemic broke out.

Leading insurer Prudential Vietnam will continue to install rice ATMs in many affected provinces this year.

A machine that dispenses free rice has become a familiar sight to Vietnamese people these days.

Those who need can come and get a bagful of rice from a small silo, while those who can help by donating rice or cash. This is how workers, street hawkers and people who earn a living from cash-in-hand jobs like housekeeping and selling lottery tickets overcome this most difficult period.

Prudential has teamed up with Red Cross Vietnam to install the machines in various places around the country. It launched the progra妹妹e on December  二 二 in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang with support from the local Red Cross unit.

Machines were installed in six co妹妹unes in Long Xuyên, and thousands of people living in difficult circumstances are expected to benefit from them.

Looking back upon the early phase of Covid- 一 九 and the unending storms over the central coast, tonnes of free rice was quickly dispensed to people in badly affected areas like Đà Nẵng, Thừa Thiên Huế, Quảng Nam, Quảng Trị, and Quảng Bình by Prudential volunteers.

Besides the company’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Response Fund, the money for this mainly came from employees and agents. Every individual extends their helps to make every contribution counted.

It was a month of tragedy with the places barely recovering from the economic impacts of a renewed outbreak of the pandemic before they were hit by historic floods and landslides brought about by a succession of storms.

Thừa Thiên Huế was severely hit and suffered great loss of life and property.

As soon as local authorities allowed travel, Prudential was present in Huế to dispense rice, help affected households recover and share in the loss of  一 三 military rescue personnel who perished in the deadly Rào Trăng  三 Hydropower Plant landslide.

Two of them were Prudential customers.