Benevolence at Ctg greengrocers’ 

Drawing the attention of customers, a notice at a vegetable shop urges, "Those having ability can put vegetables in the donation box, and those who cannot afford to buy can take from there." 

Going by the call, customers are putting vegetables in a plastic box placed beside the shop while the destitute are taking as needed.

This unique effort of serving society is being implemented for the last three days at a small vegetable shop at Madunaghat Bazar of Hathazari upazila of Chattogram. Around 8-10kg vegetables are put in the box every day and 10-15 poor take it for free.

Shopkeeper Md Harun told The Business Standard that some local youths had set up the box. "The buyers get encouraged reading the notice and drop a portion of vegetables they buy. The poor people or beggars take it. I just manage the process. People have taken the initiative positively," he said.

Photo: TBS.

The initiative was undertaken by an organisation – Musaidah. Founders of the organisation Md Abu Hasan and Kaiser Alam Chowdhury have set up vegetable donation boxes at eight places in Chattogram and Rangamati. 

On 9 March, the first donation box was set up at Shah Garibullah Housing Society kitchen market at Khulshi police station in Chattogram.

After getting a positive response, they gradually introduced the donation box in the port city's Chawkbazar, Purba Bakalia, Kamal Bazar and Mohra kitchen markets along with Madunaghat and Najumia Hut of Hathazari upazila and Vedvedi of Rangamati Sadar.

Abu Hassan told TBS, "I was inspired by two particular incidents. Hazrat Uthman (RA) introduced the custom of bread baskets. If a rich person bought a loaf of bread, he would leave another loaf of bread in a basket for the poor. Besides, when I was a child, my mother used to set aside a handful of rice for the poor from the lot for cooking rice every day. This comes to mind from the thought. It came to my mind that if a customer in a vegetable shop puts two eggplants in a donation box, two people can be provided with one meal a day."

"We are just hanging the notice and providing the donation box. We also give vegetables if needed. People are having a bad time now. So, we are trying to stand by each other. We are going to set up two more donation boxes next week in Cumilla," he added.

Sharing his experience, Rafiqul Islam Titu, a volunteer of the social welfare organisation Musaidah, said, "It was not easy to set up the donation box in the shop. We tried for five days to set up the box at Madunaghat kitchen market, but no shopkeeper was willing. Finally, on Thursday, the owner of Mozammel Crockery in the market permitted us to place the box in a small space in front of his shop. He told the vegetable shopkeeper to take care of it. The shopkeeper is also sincere."

"On the first day, we bought vegetables worth Tk300 and placed them in the box. After that, we did not have to buy any more. Customers are enthusiastically donating vegetables and those in need are taking them. The shopkeeper has been asked to put some vegetables in the box if it becomes empty. We would pay him later," he added.

On Saturday afternoon, Md Mohiuddin, a customer of Madunaghat kitchen market, was seen putting a portion of vegetables he bought in the donation box. "The initiative is beautiful. If one or two people are benefitted it would be great," he told TBS.