Short video clips featuring a small vegetable stall on the sidewalk with the words ‘Ai can thi lay, ai du thi cho’ (take vegetable if you need it) has been shared widely on the internet.

The stall attracts a lot of people, from lottery ticket sellers and scrap collectors to bricklayers who come and choose vegetables for their meals and leave.

There are familiar names in the clips. They are lottery ticket sellers and motorbike taxi drivers who visit regularly and say thanks to the owners of the stall.

The special vegetable stall is owned by Tran Hai Au, 38, from Ninh Kieu district in Can Tho City. Au was born in Tien Giang, but now lives with his family in Can Tho City.

Au’s ‘zero-dong vegetable stall’ took shape from the idea of his father Tran Van Tay. Prior to that, Au and his father grew clean vegetables in their 100 sq m garden for family meals.

Thanks to proper farming method, Au’s garden is always green with clean vegetables.

“As the output is large, we don’t use up all the vegetables and my father thought of giving them away to other people,” Au said.

“I think it is a good idea and decided to set up a stall, where vegetables are displayed and given away to needy people,” he explained.

The stall is open from 3 pm to 9 pm every day. Within a few days, Au received a lot of ‘special’ clients – the vending lottery ticket sellers near the place where he lives.

At first, they did not believe that they could take the vegetables away. They just dared to take enough for one meal.

“About 15-20 people come here every day to take vegetables,” Au said. “I don’t have any request for people. They can take away anything they want.”

However, most people just get enough vegetables for their meals to avoid waste.

Giving to receive joy

As Au’s stall has become more ‘famous’, Au now receives more ‘clients’. As a result, the number of vegetables for donation is not enough to satisfy people’s demand.

Therefore, Au decided to use part of his profits from his business to buy vegetables at a wholesale market to complement the ‘zero-dong’ vegetable stall. He buys about 30-60 kilograms of vegetable each day.

Au said he only buys vegetables from prestigious growers who use little chemical fertilizer and pesticide. Petty merchants know that Au buys vegetables to donate to poor people, and many of them decided to work with Au to do this. They are willing to provide vegetables at reasonable prices, and also donate packages of cabbage, carrots and potatoes.

City dwellers who grow vegetables in their gardens also bring vegetables to Au’s stall, from where they are distributed to the poor. Even people from other provinces join hands to help the needy. They donate dry food such as dried fish, sausages, eggs and soy sauce, fish sauce, and instant noodles. All the products are displayed at Au’s stall so that people can see them and take them away.

With cooperation from many people, Au’s stall now has a wide range of products to offer. In addition to vegetables, there are different kinds of fruits.

The diversity of the products at Au’s stall gives more choices to people who need to improve their meals.

Lan, 65, a lottery ticket seller in TanAn market in Ninh Kieu district, said the free food helps her a lot, especially when vegetable prices are increasing.

“I go there frequently to get some bunches of vegetables, enough for my meals. So, I can save some money which I can use to buy medicine,” she said.

Au and his father still grow vegetables in their garden to have clean vegetables for themselves and for donation.  Tay, the father, supports and guides his son how to grow and take care of plants. They don’t use chemical fertilizers and pesticides, but use organic fertilizers.

Au told VietNamNet that he is trying the best to help people as much as he can.

“I don’t think of closing the vegetable stall. I am willing to help anyone who needs my support. I give vegetables away in exchange for joy and happiness,” he said.

Ha Nguyen