NPO youths celebrate Int’l Volunteer Day

Volunteers play one of the many games organized at the event for International Volunteer Day in HCMC - Photo: Annalise Richter

Over 200 young volunteers from NPOs around HCMC joined a party for International Volunteer Day on Sunday morning at Saigon Pearl International School in Binh Thanh District.

The atmosphere in the packed room in the school basement was ecstatic, as hundreds of youths played games and cheered on their peers, in between presentations and talks on stage.

A DRD volunteer at the event, Nguyen Thi Phuong Nhung is a social work student at HCMC University for Social Sciences and Humanities.

She said she joined DRD as a
volunteer to help with her confidence; improve her social-work skills and help others. DRD works with people with disabilities and is connected with many centers. One of the centers had a stall beside the DRD stall selling paper animal toys made by residents to raise money.

A Volunteers for Peace Vietnam volunteer, who is a visiting university student from Wales, Annalise Richter, said the event was great because young people in Vietnam had fun in such a different way to in the UK.

She said 18 year olds here are so playful, uninhibited, enthusiastic and very much group orientated, but in the U.K. they only get excited about things like drinking.

About 13 NPOs organized on Sunday’s activities. They included Blue Dreams Volunteer Group, DRD Volunteer Club, Habitat for Humanity Vietnam, Health Volunteers Organization, IVC (International Volunteer Club) and LIN Center for Community Development.

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HCMC non-profits hold event for Int’l Volunteer Day

Volunteers from the organizing committee discuss plans for Sunday’s International Volunteer Day event in HCMC - Photo: Courtesy of LIN Center for Community Development

A special event for International Volunteer Day will be held by not-for-profit organizations this Sunday Dec. 5 with 200 volunteers expected to attend.

Event organizers said the event aims to show the NPOs’ appreciation and encouragement for the many ways volunteers help build strong communities.

“Volunteers in Vietnam mainly just want to help and support the community,” said Pham Truong Son, Event Coordinator and Community Liaison at LIN Center for Community Development, one of the organizers.

Son said the 12 NPOs that were organizing the event had thousands of volunteers to thank for the work they have done through their volunteering projects. The event will be special because more than 80% of the NPOs that are organizing the event for International Volunteer Day are Vietnamese, Son said.

The NGOs that are organizing the event are Blue Dreams Volunteer Group, DRD Volunteer Club, Habitat for Humanity Vietnam, Health Volunteers Organization, IVC (International Volunteer Club), LIN Center for Community Development, SIFE Economic University HCMC, Smile Group, Suc tre (Youth Energy) Group, Sunshine Volunteer Group, Tri thuc tre (Young Experienced) Group, Volunteers for Peace Vietnam and the HCMC Women’s Charity Association.

Only two of the NGOs in the organizing committee, Habitat and Sunshine Volunteer Group were international, the Lin community liaison officer said.

The program to be held at the International International School Saigon Pearl in HCMC (92 Nguyen Huu Canh Street, Ward 22, Binh Thanh District) from 8:30 am to 11:30 am will have booths and games plus a forum for volunteers and NPO representatives to share their stories.

It will be much bigger than last year’s small gathering for volunteers, said Dana Doan, full time Advisor to the LIN Center.

Volunteers in Vietnam not only give their time they also provide important skills.

Son said LIN had about 60 active skilled volunteers who were indispensable to the organization, because they provided important services for free that the new NPO could not afford to pay for.

That included online volunteers who help with translating, website design, graphic design and financial management.

Ms. Bao, vice-head of Blue Dreams said, “The event is also a great chance for me and my colleagues to meet our counterparts at other volunteer host organizations to learn new approaches to attracting new volunteers and keeping existing volunteers engaged and motivated.”

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Coca-Cola rallies volunteers to clean Vung Tau beach

Souleymane Hamed (L) of Coca-Cola and volunteers collect garbage on Thuy Van Beach in Vung Tau on Saturday - Photo: Mong Binh

More than 150 volunteers from Coca-Cola Vietnam and Vung Tau City collected garbage along the beach in Vung Tau on Saturday morning as part of the International Coastal Cleanup campaign.

Marketing manager of Coca-Cola Indochina, Souleymane Hamed joined the volunteers as they collected non-biodegradable trash and plastic bags and bottles along a three kilometer stretch of beach in the coastal resort town near HCMC.

Hamed said he was excited about the response to the campaign held by Coca-Cola Vietnam in association with the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Youth Culture House.

“A lot of volunteers have come to collect the garbage. It’s great to see the youth’s commitment to the environment and their enthusiasm for making our life better,” Hamed told the Daily while the volunteers filled up big bags with garbage they had collected.

Hamed said it was crucial for the youth to take care of the environment, and this point was echoed by Tran Anh Nam, a fourth-year student from the University of Mining and Geology.

“The environment is very important to our life. Our life is healthy if we have a clean environment,” Nam said, adding the youth have a very important role to play to stop people littering Vietnam’s beaches.

Nam said he expected the action he and other volunteers took last Saturday would encourage more people to put garbage into the public dustbins.

Less garbage thrown into the environment meant less direct impact on the daily life of locals creating a better image of Vietnam for international visitors, Hamed said after he announced Coca-Cola Vietnam’s donation of 15 benches to Vung Tau City.

Coca-Cola Vietnam said over 300 volunteers joined the 2010 International Coastal Cleanup campaign in three beach cities in the country to improve the marine debris issue and raise public awareness of environmental protection.

On September 19, more than 150 volunteers cleaned Do Son Beach in Haiphong City and Son Tra Beach in Danang City as part of the International Coastal Cleanup in Vietnam this year.

The cleanup also aims to collect data of the specific types of litter and marine debris that was collected to provide information on marine pollution that can be used in public education campaigns.

Globally run by the Ocean Conservancy since 1986, the International Coastal Cleanup usually takes place in mid-September. In 2010 which is the 15th year of the partnership of Coca-Cola and the environmental education organization, the leading beverage company expected to mobilize 50,000 volunteers across 40 countries and territories for the beach cleanup event.

“Every year, we are inspired by this event, and encouraged to continue to improve our sustainable packaging strategy so that we can help protect the environment,” said Martin Gil, general manager of Coca-Cola Indochina. He added this would bring together global communities to keep the ocean clean.

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Coca-Cola rallies volunteers to clean Vung Tau beach

Souleymane Hamed (L) of Coca-Cola and volunteers collect garbage on Thuy Van Beach in Vung Tau on Saturday - Photo: Mong Binh

More than 150 volunteers from Coca-Cola Vietnam and Vung Tau City collected garbage along the beach in Vung Tau on Saturday morning as part of the International Coastal Cleanup campaign.

Marketing manager of Coca-Cola Indochina, Souleymane Hamed joined the volunteers as they collected non-biodegradable trash and plastic bags and bottles along a three kilometer stretch of beach in the coastal resort town near HCMC.

Hamed said he was excited about the response to the campaign held by Coca-Cola Vietnam in association with the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Youth Culture House.

“A lot of volunteers have come to collect the garbage. It’s great to see the youth’s commitment to the environment and their enthusiasm for making our life better,” Hamed told the Daily while the volunteers filled up big bags with garbage they had collected.

Hamed said it was crucial for the youth to take care of the environment, and this point was echoed by Tran Anh Nam, a fourth-year student from the University of Mining and Geology.

“The environment is very important to our life. Our life is healthy if we have a clean environment,” Nam said, adding the youth have a very important role to play to stop people littering Vietnam’s beaches.

Nam said he expected the action he and other volunteers took last Saturday would encourage more people to put garbage into the public dustbins.

Less garbage thrown into the environment meant less direct impact on the daily life of locals creating a better image of Vietnam for international visitors, Hamed said after he announced Coca-Cola Vietnam’s donation of 15 benches to Vung Tau City.

Coca-Cola Vietnam said over 300 volunteers joined the 2010 International Coastal Cleanup campaign in three beach cities in the country to improve the marine debris issue and raise public awareness of environmental protection.

On September 19, more than 150 volunteers cleaned Do Son Beach in Haiphong City and Son Tra Beach in Danang City as part of the International Coastal Cleanup in Vietnam this year.

The cleanup also aims to collect data of the specific types of litter and marine debris that was collected to provide information on marine pollution that can be used in public education campaigns.

Globally run by the Ocean Conservancy since 1986, the International Coastal Cleanup usually takes place in mid-September. In 2010 which is the 15th year of the partnership of Coca-Cola and the environmental education organization, the leading beverage company expected to mobilize 50,000 volunteers across 40 countries and territories for the beach cleanup event.

“Every year, we are inspired by this event, and encouraged to continue to improve our sustainable packaging strategy so that we can help protect the environment,” said Martin Gil, general manager of Coca-Cola Indochina. He added this would bring together global communities to keep the ocean clean.

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Ford Vietnam volunteers help less fortunate

As part of its Global Week of Caring, over 150 Ford Vietnam employees and dealership staff did charity  work in Hai Duong City and HCMC.

In Hai Duong where Ford has its assembly plant, more than 100 Ford volunteers helped clean up the park and donated clothes and books for disabled children and gave presents to mental patients. In HCMC, about 50 Ford volunteers held a cleaning bee and donated clothes, books and gifts to an orphan center.

In total, the volunteers worked for 470 hours for less fortunate people. Ford hopes this will become a tradition for all Ford Vietnam’s employees and its dealership staff to stand together as a team to contribute to the development of the community and protect the environment.   

More than 6,000 Ford employees and retired volunteers have already registered as volunteers in more than two dozen countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. The final tally is expected to be double that number by the end of next week. Ford said the volunteers are working to create a better world by feeding the hungry, renovating schools and repairing shelters on six continents. Caring for the environment was another important focus, and Ford volunteers also are on the job protecting critical water resources and planting trees, the company said.

Since 2005, the Ford Volunteer Corps has been the face of Ford in communities around the globe.  Each year more than 20,000 Ford employees and retirees participate in Ford Model Teams to support community projects where they work and live.

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