HCMC – The community spirit in Vietnam has been most visible during the Covid-19 pandemic among the vast society in general and in the business circle in particular, when poor, disadvantaged people were given prompt support to survive the deadly crisis enveloping the entire country. Such a spirit among many generous corporate citizens, though not so conspicuous as in the pandemic, has never subdued. T&T Group is one of such community supporters.
The private business group has over the years set aside a sizable part of its annual profit to run various charitable programs, with the primary beneficiaries being poor people, students in poverty-stricken localities, philanthropist groups, or simply special gifts during festive occasions to children.
Housing for the poor
In May this year, T&T Group responded to a call by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, which launched a movement to build homes for poor people in Dien Bien Province, which is home to the 1954 great victory against the French colonialists.
Data from Dien Bien Province’s government showed there are nearly 7,500 families being near or under the poverty line in the locality, living in crumbling homes that need to be repaired or rebuilt.
The Vietnam Fatherland Front aims to call on donors nationwide to make contributions to a program for building between 7,000 and 8,000 houses in Dien Bien and other provinces nearby. The housing program will be executed in one year, from May this year to May 2024 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory.
T&T Group upon this call quickly donated VND5 billion in May to help build some 100 houses for poor people in this northern upland province.
“T&T Group expects this donation will help poor people in Dien Bien Province to escape poverty and improve their living conditions so that they can be more attached to the country’s border region,” said a representative of the group.
This sum to improve housing for poor people was not the first generous donation made by T&T Group.
In March last year, Do Quang Hien, founder and board chairman of the group, and some other leaders in the group’s ecosystem had handed over VND20 billion to Dien Bien Province to improve housing conditions for poor people there. In addition, T&T Group had also given VND60 billion to build 1,000 houses for the poor in Ha Giang Province nearby, while many poor people in other provinces including Cao Bang and Dak Lak had also been supported by the group to repair or rebuild their houses.
Social welfare activities
At T&T Group, social responsibility has been integrated into its business development, and as such, the group has joined forces with local authorities across the country to promote social welfare for poor people over the years.
Each year, T&T Group earmarks hundreds of billions of Vietnam dong to support poor people, especially via the Vietnam Fatherland Front’s “For the Poor” Fund, via provincial branches of this fund, or via other social organizations, said a representative of the group.
In March this year, for example, the group presented VND2 billion to the Hanoi Children Sponsorship Fund to assist poor children in the capital city. The sum will be used to award scholarships to high-performing students, and donate bicycles for poor children, or simply gifts for needy children.
In July last year, the group awarded 100 scholarships worth VND200 million to students in four north-central provinces – Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Quang Tri. “T&T Group hopes that the donations would help underprivileged children get better care and can continue their schooling,” said the representative.
T&T Group is also ready to “help the helpers”, supporting other social volunteer groups that are devoting themselves to society. For example, the group in 2022 handed over an ambulance worth VND870 million to the Hanoi-based FAS Angel, which groups some 130 volunteers helping victims of traffic accidents in the capital city.
FAS Angel, established in September 2019, has extended first aid to victims of around 4,000 traffic accidents a year. The group was operating two obsolete ambulances that could not meet the demand due to the high number of traffic accidents in Hanoi, so T&T Group decided to equip them with one new ambulance to facilitate their humanitarian service.
In fact, T&T Group has donated ambulances to many localities in the country to transport patients, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the two years of the pandemic, T&T Group and subsidiaries in its ecosystem made donations totaling VND1,500 billion, or more than US$60 million.
Commenting on T&T Group’s huge donations to the community, especially during the pandemic, the representative said: “For T&T Group, contributing to society is a ceaseless journey, be it prior to, during, or after the pandemic.”
