Charity initiative distributes food packages to workers, foreign students in Ho Chi Minh City

A charity initiative administered 700 care packages on the weekend to workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic in Binh Tan District, as well as Lao and Cambodian students in the Pre-University College of Ho Chi Minh City.

The initiative was undertaken by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, supermarket chain Saigon Co.op, and e-commerce platform Shopee, with support from the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

The organizers prepared essentials, including rice, cooking oil, and fish sauce, and divided them into thousands of gift packages, each of which was priced at VND145,000 (US$6.3) on Shopee. 

The packages were delivered on Saturday directly to the beneficiaries, including 500 workers who are struggling financially in Binh Tan District, 200 Lao and Cambodian students and those of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities at the Pre-University College in District 5. 

Among the recipients was Tran Ngoc Sang, a manufacturing worker in Binh Tan District who hails from Soc Trang Province in the Mekong Delta.

“I feel blessed to receive these essential items, which will help ease the burden on my family during social distancing,” said the sole breadwinner for the family of seven.

Other demographics, including youths in locked-down areas of Hoc Mon District, as well as unofficial workers in Cat Lai Ward of Thu Duc City, also received the care packages of the initiative. 

After the first run on Saturday and Sunday, the organizers plan to hand another 2,500 packages to struggling people in cordoned-off areas in Ho Chi Minh City on July 22 and 25. 

They are currently accepting donations on Shopee and ShopeePay.

In June and early July, many working-class residents in Ho Chi Minh City suffered from lay-offs or reduced income as the southern metropolis emerged as Vietnam’s coronavirus epicenter, with its caseload rising in the thousands daily.

The alarming situation has prompted authorities to put the city under a tightened social distancing mandate that forbids public gatherings of over two, bans non-essential businesses and services, and requires people to stay home, effectively cutting off the livelihoods of many unofficial workers.