Da Nang (VNS/VNA) -  Nguyen Thi Thom, 52, of ChinhGian ward, Da Nang city’s Thanh Khe district, got milk, vegetables, eggs,hand sanitiser and a mask for free at a mobile supermarket last weekend.

Thom, whose husband is on dialysis, lost her job as a domestic helper dueto the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I feel very thankful because of the model of the supermarket," she said.

“I have lost my job for several months. Life becomes harder because I am thebreadwinner in my family,” she added.

Not only Thom but also hundreds of other struggling people benefited from themobile supermarket last weekend, Nhan Dan (People) onlinenewspaper reported.

Cao Thi My Trang, 42, of Xuan Ha ward, who received two full bags of food andessentials from the mobile supermarket, said the model helped sharedifficulties with the poor during the pandemic.

“Thanks to the free food, my family will not worry about how to have enoughfood for this week,” she said.

Trang, a lottery ticket seller, said she had to work very hard to bring up hertwo children. However, after the pandemic hit the city, she lost her job.

The single mother did not know what to do to earn money to raise her children,she said.

The mobile supermarket opened in Huynh Thuc Khang Secondary School, at No 154 HaHuy Tap street, last weekend to give the bare essentials to local poor anddisadvantaged people suffering from the pandemic.

The supermarket provided items like vermicelli, noodles, rice, milk,vegetables, eggs, milk, hand sanitiser and masks.

Truong Thi Nhu Hoa, 50, head of Da Nang Social Working Group, which runs themobile supermarket, said it was the first time the group launched the mobilesupermarket in the city.

The group planned to alternately open the supermarket in seven districts of thecity every weekend, she said.

“Although it is just a little bit, we want to share the burden with the poorduring the pandemic,” she added.

Hoa said food and other essentials were donated by local businesses andkind-hearted people.

It costs about 70 million VND (3,000 USD) to run the mobile supermarket eachweekend, she said.

Before the supermarket opened, the group conducted a survey and gave 200 freeshopping vouchers of the supermarket to the poor and disadvantaged people inthe district.

Each voucher was worth 300,000 – 350,000 VND (13-15 USD).

Hoa also said to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, each person was told to washtheir hands correctly with hand sanitiser, check their temperature with athermometer and wear rubber gloves in the supermarket.

Only two people were allowed to go shopping at the same time.

Phan Nhat Nam, an employee of a local security system company had donated amask ATM for the supermarket, Hoa said.

People just had to look at the camera in front of the mask ATM to confirmtheir face and press the button to get 10 free masks, she said.

There are 10 volunteers running the mobile supermarket with Hoa.

Another mobile supermarket will be operated in Hai Chau district this weekend, shesaid.

“We do it because we want every poor person of the city to receive necessaryhelp from kind-hearted people,” she said./.