A businessman had an ingenious idea to help hungry people. Hoang Tuan Anh designed a "free-rice ATM". He installed them in cities across Vietnam. Mr Anh worried about the growing number of hungry people. Around five million Vietnamese people lost their jobs because of coronavirus. The popularity of the ATMs means Mr Anh is making more of them. Businesses and donors are helping his project. This will allow him to extend the reach of the ATMs.
Mr Anh explained that he wanted to invent, "a 24/7 automatic dispensing machine" to provide free rice for people out of work during lockdown. He estimated that his machines have given out 3,000 tons of free rice. People can take out 1.5kg of rice twice a day. A mother who recently lost her job appreciated Mr Ahn's efforts. She said: "I read about this rice ATM on the Internet.…I really hope the sponsors keep doing this."