HCMC – Roofing sheet manufacturer Ton Dong A has provided generous support for the Green Summer campaign over the past 14 years, joining hands with the HCMC University of Technology to help disadvantaged people across the country.
This year, the company joined the Material Technology faculty’s Green Summer campaign to build a road in a rural area in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap. Ton Dong A contributed over VND350 million (US$15,000) for the construction of the road, making the company’s total donations to the campaign over the past 14 years amount to more than VND3.2 billion.
The new road was put into service last month in My Quy Commune, Thap Muoi District, providing local residents with better transportation. Especially, local children can travel to and from school more conveniently and safely.
The 1.2-kilometer-long road, which runs along the western bank of the Cai Beo Canal, was previously muddy and bumpy, especially during the rainy season.
Nguyen Ngoc Phuong, a local resident whose house is next to the road, said she and her grandchildren can now have safer transportation on the road. “I’m very happy when the new road is completed. Not only me, but all of the people here are happy,” she said.
According to Nguyen Thi Lieu, a local woman, voluntary students and the locals have planted flowers along the road to make it more beautiful and vivid. “It took us only one morning to plant flowers along the road. We had so much fun,” she said.
During this year’s Green Summer campaign, Ton Dong A also gave many gift sets to needy families in Dong Thap, awarded scholarships to underprivileged students with outstanding academic performance, and donated over 300 meters of roofing sheets to five poor households. Total value of the donations amounted to more than VND100 million.
Nguyen Ngoc Luan, deputy director for domestic sales at Ton Dong A, said: “We are honored to join hands with the Green Summer campaign over the past 14 years to build bridges and roads in rural areas. Despite obstacles caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the bridge was completed on time thanks to support from the local residents. We also had many memorable moments during the campaign.”
Up to now, Ton Dong A has provided funding for the construction of six bridges and over 10 roads in rural and remote regions across the country.
Associate Professor, Doctor Tran Thien Phuc, vice chancellor of HCMC University of Technology, said: “Ton Dong A is not simply the financial sponsor of the Green Summer campaign. The company has collaborated with the university to help the students become good citizens and skilled workers in the future.”
Green Summer is an annual campaign launched by the Vietnamese Students Association in 1997, attracting a large number of students from most universities and colleges nationwide.
The campaign encourages students to spend their summer vacation participating in community-based activities such as building bridges and roads in remote areas, building houses for poor people and providing free education for underprivileged children.
Besides the Green Summer campaign, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic seriously affecting the livelihoods of many people, Ton Dong A has carried out numerous charitable programs this year to support people in need nationwide.
Prior to the 2020-2021 academic year, which began on September 5, Ton Dong A donated 40 scholarships worth VND500,000 each to needy students of Phu Duong and Duong No primary schools in Hue City and VND130.8 million in scholarships to children of the company’s employees.
Late last month, Ton Dong A donated 60 square meters of roofing sheets to each of 54 households whose roofs were destroyed by the year’s fifth storm in Trieu Phong and Cam Lo districts, Quang Tri Province.
Besides this, Ton Dong A donated roofing sheets worth VND700 million in total to families affected by the storm in Huong Thuy District, Thua Thien-Hue Province.
Most recently, Ton Dong A organized a Mid-Autumn event for poor students and disadvantaged children in the southern province of Binh Duong, during which the company granted VND80 million to the Binh Duong Children Protection Fund to provide scholarships for excellent students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
By Minh Tuan
