Joining hands to provide milk for every child
By Quoc Hung in HCMC
In response to Action Month for Vietnamese Children with the theme Creating Equal Development Opportunities for Children, the National Fund for Vietnamese Children under the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on Monday announced the establishment of the Vietnam Never Stops Growing Milk Fund to create opportunities for Vietnamese children to drink milk every day and help reduce the rate of malnourished children in Vietnam.
Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), the main sponsor of the fund, will donate VND10 billion worth of milk for children whose families are unable to provide them with an adequate amount of milk. The goal of the campaign is to collect VND20 billion in 2010, equivalent to eight million glasses of milk.
The fund originates from the One Million Glasses of Milk for Poor Vietnamese Children Fund, a corporate social responsibility campaign initiated by Vinamilk and the National Fund for Vietnamese Children in 2008 with the aim of sharing difficulties with underprivileged and malnourished children and helping reduce the ratio of malnourished children nationwide. Following the success of the campaign, Vinamilk co-operated with the National Fund for Vietnamese Children, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Vietnam National Institute of Nutrition to implement the Six Million Glasses of Milk campaign in 2009 to help thousands of Vietnamese children all over the country have access to milk every day.
On the foundation of the Six Glasses of Milk Fund and to open this meaningful program to the public, starting in early 2010, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has given permission to the National Fund for Vietnamese Children to implement the Vietnam Never Stops Growing Milk Fund to mobilize more social resources to contribute to ensure “every kid has the right to drink milk every day.”
The fund aims to improve the stature of Vietnamese people by specific actions, of which providing children with milk every day is the first step.
The Vietnam Never Stops Growing Milk Fund calls for strong support from families, individuals, benefactors, state agencies and enterprises for a Vietnam to never stop growing by donating to the fund or spreading the word on the campaign’s noble objective.
Research has shown that the mental and physical growth in the early stage of life is quite important to the success of a child later in life. However, not all Vietnamese children can drink milk every day, especially children in remote areas. Unequal rates of milk consumption between rural and urban areas nationwide reduce the chance for children to develop physically and intellectually.