Motorbike taxi driver, director,... put aside work to cook free noodles for "strangers"

Warm bowls of noodles on rainy days

On Saturday afternoon, Ho Chi Minh City experienced a heavy downpour. Members of Mr. Lieu Hung's "Zero-VND Instant Noodles" group were worried, afraid that they would not be able to prepare hot bowls of noodles for the workers in time.

A moment later, seeing that the rain had just stopped, the group did not give any orders to each other, but busily did their own tasks, from cooking the broth, arranging the tables and chairs, to preparing the bowls of noodles.

People line up to get free noodles to take home (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

At 5:30 p.m., the members breathed a sigh of relief as they finished everything in time. Placing the "Zero-dong instant noodles" sign on the street, Mr. Lieu Hung smiled brightly and announced: "Everyone, please come in and eat noodles!"

After his words, the workers came and lined up in the aisle. Some people looked shy and stood awkwardly at the kitchen counter, then were guided to the table by the members. In no time, the plastic tables and chairs were all filled with people.

Volunteers deliver food to diners, avoiding chaos and jostling. Those who want to take their food home will also wait in a separate area. In addition to enjoying hot bowls of noodles, diners can also watch performances by guests invited by the volunteer group.

In addition to serving free noodles, the volunteer group also invited singers to perform (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

Each week, the group organizes in a different location. Some days, "Zero-dong instant noodles" goes to boarding houses or industrial parks, other days it goes to parks or vacant lots.

Quickly slurping a bowl of noodles before starting his nightly journey, Mr. Minh (47 years old), a lottery ticket seller, said he felt very happy to eat a bowl of fragrant noodles.

"I sell all day and only earn a few tens of thousands of dong. Normally, I just eat quickly and don't dare buy good food. Sometimes, when someone gives out charity rice, I go and ask for it, but it's not always available. Luckily, there is this zero-dong noodle model. Every weekend, I come here to eat. I feel very happy," said Mr. Minh.

"Sell" noodles for happy smiles

Mr. Lieu Hung said that the "shop" has been operating for more than 3 months. While sitting down for coffee together, the members came up with the idea of ​​building a zero-dong noodle model to serve workers and spread positive things in life.

Mr. Lieu Hung said he is planning to open a 0-dong bus trip, festival,... in the near future (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

Therefore, the group decided to "sell" instant noodles for free in exchange for the happy smiles of diners. At first, there were only 8 members participating, so the preparation stages seemed to be behind schedule and not thoughtful. Therefore, the group immediately contacted local organizations and volunteer groups to join hands in support.

Now, the number of volunteers supporting the "bar" is increasing, to the point that they can't remember each other's names.

Every Saturday, the group serves 500-700 servings of noodles to diners. The cost for each session ranges from 3 to 6 million VND, contributed by group members and donors.

People feel warm when receiving hot bowls of noodles (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

"At first, the group did not receive cash from donors, but only food. But later, as more donors from far away wanted to contribute, the group received money and converted it into food. Almost every time the amount was negative, the group was willing to spend money from their own pocket to cook more food for the people," Mr. Hung shared.

Among the members, there are people who work as technology motorbike taxi drivers, directors and many other jobs. However, every weekend, they put everything aside to join hands to do meaningful work.

Mr. T., a technology car driver, said that even though he has to work more than 10 hours a day, he still takes time to help out at the "shop".

Volunteers take turns serving diners (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

"By doing this, we feel like we are receiving, not giving. We receive happy smiles, thanks, and handshakes from the locals after eating hot bowls of noodles. From then on, all work pressure seems to disappear, making our youth more meaningful," Mr. T. confided.

According to the leader of Thanh Loc ward (District 12), the "0 Dong instant noodles" model has many positive meanings for society. To spread this beautification, the locality also supports the volunteer group in finding locations, connecting electricity and water systems, coordinating volunteers to help, etc.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/an-sinh/anh-xe-om-dao-dien-gac-viec-di-nau-mi-0-dong-cho-nguoi-dung-20240803213212667.htm