Kim, 37, skipped the vegetables and watched over the braised fish all at once on the morning of July 26.
Meanwhile, her husband Nicolas Antonio was dividing the freshly cooked rice into portions.
The couple had risen before dawn to prepare the food. They went to the Thu Duc wholesale market at 5 a.m. to buy ingredients before cooking and packing the meals, which they then distributed in front of their house on Vuon Lai Street to people with no money for food.
“Preparing hundreds of meals at the same time takes experience,” Kim said. VnExpress. “Nicolas wants to try sometimes, but I don’t let him, so he can only help me [with preparing the ingredients].”
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Tran Hoang Kim and Nicolas Antonio prepare free meals on July 26, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran |
The clock struck 8:30 a.m. when the couple finished cooking. They prepare different dishes every day and the meals always include rice, vegetables, a main dish and fruits. They use around 25 kilograms of rice and 40 kilograms of vegetables and meat in each round. It costs in total about 1 million VND (about $42).
“We used our own money first, and then we also received contributions from donors,” Kim said. “When we don’t have enough money, we prepare vegetarian packed lunches instead.”
The couple officially start distributing meals at 9.30am, but people normally start gathering around their house half an hour before. It takes the couple about 15 minutes to distribute 200 boxes of homemade hot meals.
Kim said anyone can come for a meal, regardless of their financial situation.
“I call it ‘zero cost meals’ instead of ‘free meals’ to prevent recipients from feeling bad because of their financial hardship,” she added.
Nga, a lottery ticket seller from the southern province of Dong Nai, said she walks two kilometers every day to Kim and Antonio’s house. She then brings home four packed lunches for herself and her grandchildren.
“The sale of lottery tickets does not bring in much,” she explained. “Coming here and getting these lunch boxes helps me save between 20,000 and 30,000 VND per day, which I can spend on other things.”
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Nga comes to Kim and Antonio’s every day to get four meal boxes for her whole family. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran |
According to Kim, the free lunch boxes she and her husband prepare each day are their way of expressing that “sharing is caring.” Although they are distributed free of charge, the meals are well prepared and healthy.
The couple have also set up a space in their home where people in need can find clothes, food and medicine, all at “zero cost”.
Kim spent 10 years working as a hairdresser in Malaysia before returning to HCMC, and she often visited orphanages or shelters for disabled children to cook and cook after work.
So, when she returned to Vietnam in 2019, she wanted to create a charity kitchen to serve the poor.
She immediately made her idea a reality.
But Kim could only distribute about 100 meals at a time, once a week by herself. She then joined a group of volunteers who worked together to distribute up to 600 meals to patients at local hospitals.
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People can take one or more meal boxes depending on their financial situation. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran |
The couple plan to carry out their volunteer project until they find someone who can “inherit” it and help carry on their “legacy”. They will then move to Mexico.
In the meantime, Antonio will continue to help his wife in the kitchen.
“Helping my wife cook and distribute meals is my only daily task,” he said. “I’m happy to see her happy to help others.”
