A man from Hyaderabad, India, Ramu Dosapati, used his life savings to open a ‘rice ATM’ for the people in need so that they can have food for free.
His savings from working as a corporate HR executive helped him make a truly remarkable change and to help the ones struggling.
Last year, due to the heavy floods and the added limits because of the pandemic, a lot of migrant workers in this region of India had no support and some had a hard time making ends meet.
Dosapati who also lives there with his family went on a mission to help these people get food and other essentials.
Dosapati Opens up a ‘Rice ATM’ to Ensure People Have Food
He decided to invest around $61,000 to buy and run a rice ATM. This ATM provides rice and other necessities 24/7, 7 days per week.
His road to altruism started with a simple wish-to help those in need-but little did he know that this journey would take him this far and make him known to the world.
One day, Dosapati was at a store picking up things for his son’s birthday dinner. There, he spotted something unusual; a woman was purchasing a large amount of chicken, worth almost $2500.
He was intrigued and asked why she needed that much poultry. She explained him that she’s a security guard and works at a camp for migrant workers. She was buying this poultry as a treat for the residents there who ran out of food.
She also told him that she doesn’t have a very big salary so he thought why could this lovely lady spend almost $2500 to help others, yet I don’t?
Soon after, he asked her if he could accompany her to the camp. There, he made a list of 200 individuals who needed help. But, soon after, he realized that the investment would only suffice for a couple of days.
This is when he made a decision to cash his retirement fund and together with a local merchant, they opened the Rice ATM Food Pantry.
He Put Other People’s Needs before His Own
Previously, Dosapati had a plan to move with his family into a bigger home and had sold a parcel of his ancestral land to secure the funding; however, after he learned that another group of workers also needed help, he put a hold on his dreams, of course, with his family’s blessings.
His wife was a major support and asked from him to carry on with his project. The Rice ATM, which launched in April, became popular worldwide.
Other people are also making donations and helping. Dosapati says he’ll use these resources to keep supplying people with food and other essentials.
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