Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees across the country on October 17 launched the “Days for the Poor” campaign, which will last until November 18. At a ceremony held in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, organizations, individuals and businesses committed over VND1.2 billion ($56,400) in support to disadvantaged households. A total of 32 collectives and 15 individuals who have greatly contributed to the locality’s charity work were also honored at the event. Since October last year, Tien Giang has mobilized more than VND17 billion ($799,000) towards funds for the province’s poor. The locality has over 35,600 poor households in addition to 25,000 living near the poverty line. Meanwhile, in the central province of Phu Yen, over VND600 million ($28,200) was collected on the day of the launch and will be used to build houses for 19 families across several districts. The fund for the poor of Phu Yen has so far this year raised over VND6.5 billion ($305,500) and the amount is expected to reach over VND7 billion ($329,000) by the end of this year. Since 2009, the central province of Ninh Thuan gathered VND75 billion to build nearly 7,300 houses for the poor. In the southern province of Dong Nai , which has about 20,000 households, hundreds of organisations and individuals have donated many billions of Vietnamese dong to the poor over the past decade. Dong Nai has used the donations to build 18,000 houses and provide the poor with funding to help them boost production. (Vietnamplus.vn Oct 18)
