Fifteen years of monthly rice
What pagodas and the head of the delegation have said about monthly rice for elderly and disabled people, across trips from 2015 to 2026.
This page gathers what the pagodas and the head of the delegation have said about monthly rice over many trips, so the reader can see the quietest part of the Compassionate Hands Foundation's work: a share of rice each month for lonely elderly people, people with disabilities and very hard-pressed families. Every figure below is what a speaker said in a video. Where a statement is unclear we have kept it as spoken, without adding or rounding.
How the rice began
At Diệu Tịnh Pagoda in Phú Yên, in 2026, the head of the delegation said this was one of the first pagodas visited after the foundation was formed, "nearly 20 years ago". He said the original aim was to go to remote rural areas and help elderly people with no one to rely on, and people with disabilities, with 10 kg of rice a month to get by. Wheelchairs, scholarships and unplanned gifts for those not yet on the rice list were added later.
Gifts at each pagoda follow the same order: people in wheelchairs first, then those on the regular list, then the students, and finally poor neighbours from the village. At Huỳnh Quang Pagoda in 2025, the narration explains that "regular" means people the foundation supports every month.
The figures that were spoken
The table lists only the durations and amounts the speakers gave. The last column gives the video and the time in the video, so anyone who wishes to listen again can find the passage.
| Pagoda | Province | What the speaker said | Video and time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diệu Tịnh | Phú Yên | One of the first pagodas after the foundation was formed, nearly 20 years ago; at first 10 kg of rice a month | 2026 full film, 75:53 |
| Từ Phước | Quảng Ngãi | In places receiving monthly rice "after 15 years", some elderly recipients have passed away; the team takes back those books and will add more when conditions allow | 2024, 01:08 |
| An Ninh | Phú Yên | A nun said they had received the "rice of loving-kindness" for more than 12 years | 2024, 01:05 |
| An Ninh | Phú Yên | The head of the delegation said monthly rice had been given here for nearly 10 years, 10 kg a month | 2019, 48:13 |
| Phúc Xuyên | Quảng Nam | For the past two years local people have received a monthly rice book of 10 kg | 2024, 00:41 |
| Long An | Hậu Giang | 10 kg of rice a month for nearly or over 10 years; this time 57 regular rice books | 2024, 06:36 and 14:56 |
| Huỳnh Quang | An Giang | 10 kg of rice a month; one speaker said the pagoda's care for local people had gone on for 7 years in a row | 2015, 88:06 |
The people behind the rice
At each pagoda, the monthly rice is usually handed over by the abbess or abbot on the foundation's behalf. At Long An in 2024 the head of the delegation reminded local people that the rice is sent by people far away, in the United States and Canada, and hoped they would remember them with each bowl of rice.
A closing word
Across the videos, monthly rice appears as one of the foundation's earliest programmes, lasting more than ten years at several pagodas. We have recorded only what was said, with gratitude to the pagodas, the nuns and monks, and the people who sent rice from far away. You are welcome to hear each passage in the original videos.