The Gia Lai provincial Red Cross said it is working with organizations and volunteer groups to provide school supplies, bicycles, scholarships and daily necessities for poor and ethnic minority children.
One beneficiary, sixth grader Đinh Thị Mai from Tơ Tung commune, received a new bicycle through the Gia Lai Fund for Poor Patients.
Mai, who lost her father and whose mother is paralyzed, had previously walked six kilometers to school. “Now that I have a bicycle, the road to school won’t feel so far anymore,” she said.
On Aug. 23, the Kbang Red Cross volunteer club, Khai Tâm group from Ho Chi Minh City and the Hoài An association for supporting poor patients distributed 225 gift packages to students and families in Kbang and Tơ Tung communes, valued at about 130 million dong ($5,100). The donations included clothing, food and 40 boxes of milk.
At Nguyễn Khuyến semi-boarding school in Chư Krey commune, where 390 of 691 students come from poor households, benefactors provided textbooks, desks, notebooks and classroom repairs.
Principal Nguyễn Xuân Ân said the support created better conditions for both teaching and learning.
Provincial Red Cross Vice Chairman Nguyễn Chí Cẩn said the “School to School-Connecting love” campaign, run with the Department of Education and Training and the Youth Union, will be a key initiative this year.
The Red Cross is also working with sponsors to build two “Boarding school kitchens” at kindergartens in Ia Hrú and Ia Ko communes, each worth 300 million dong.
Support programs are expected to continue throughout the school year, officials said.
