Businesses such as Sacombank, Nestle and Co.op Food have organised charity programmes and given gifts to enable underprivileged people to celebrate Tet (the Lunar New Year).

Between December 23 and January 16 Sacombank organised the 20th Warm Spring Programme in 51 provinces and cities across the country and also Laos and Cambodia at a cost of VND7.8 billion (US$332,760).

Under the programme, Sacombank executives and staff working in various localities visited and gave gifts to disadvantaged children, people with disabilities, seniors living by themselves, and poor families.

Over the last 20 years Sacombank has spent more than VND85.3 billion ($3.6 million) to bring New Year cheer to disadvantaged people.

Nestle and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Dong Nai Province give Tet gifts to poor families. — Photo courtesy of the firm

Also since late last month Nestle Vietnam has co-ordinated with various organisations to give gifts to more than 8,500 workers, students and families across the country, especially in remote and border areas.

In Dong Nai Province, together with the provincial Labour Confederation, it gave gifts to 1,000 trade union members and workers facing difficult circumstances. It also gave Tet gifts to 500 disadvantaged people in the province together with the local Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee.

Before that it had participated in programmes to give Tet gifts to poor and disadvantaged women and children in four border provinces, workers at industrial zones in Hung Yen Province, women workers in HCM City who could not afford to return to their hometown for Tet, poor and near-poor households, and children orphaned by COVID-19, and help disadvantaged students studying in HCM City return home to celebrate Tet with their families.

These were part of the ‘Nestle Cares’ CSR programme to support local communities.

Vo Thi Ngoc Huong, chairwoman of Co.op Food, gives gifts to disadvantaged children at a charity programme that benefited more than 500 underprivileged children in HCM City on January 11. — Photo courtesy of Saigon Co.op

Last week Saigon Co.op Food One Member Company Limited (Co.op Food) co-operated with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to organise a ‘Happy Birthday’ programme for more than 500 disadvantaged and orphaned children to give them each a Tet gift and greeting card written by hand by Co.op Food employees.

The children also participated in games and a quiz about Tet and enjoyed art performances.

Co.op Food has also held many other community programmes for Tet, including setting up a number of ‘Zero dong Tet mini supermarket’ in HCM City, Ha Noi and Can Tho. With a total budget of VND10 billion ($424,470), the programmes have given gifts to more than 32,000 people so far. — VNS