Thank you to everyone who has been supporting our VANGO COVID-19 relief efforts. Your donations have helped us to bring PPE supplies to health care workers and first responders every week since March locally and as far as New York, Illinois (Chicago), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and Florida as well as sanitary and household necessities to HIPE youth and families (many of whom are facing serious financial hardship because they have lost their only sources of income) so they can safely observe shelter-in-place and social distancing practices in Hue, Vietnam.
VANGO has joined forces with PIVOT to launch ConnectNGive.org, a mobile platform or app, allowing all of us to push resources to clinics and organizations or clinics, and organizations to pull resources down.
Meanwhile in Vietnam, which has been shut-down to varying degrees since Tet Lunar New Year, our staff and youth have received multiple workshop trainings on COVID-19–what it is, how to prevent spread, how to DIY cloth coverings, some creative hobbies to explore while at home, and more. We’re now working together to prepare easy-to-understand informational materials to share with their communities who may not have access to high-quality information and resources.
With a generous individual donation matched by DCA, a team of HIPE staff and youth distributed COVID-19 relief packages for the families of 119 peer health educators who are facing particular difficulties during this time. After asking the families what is of highest priority so as to minimalize the need to go to the open air market or grocery store and to help offset other purchases while they have no income, each package includes: rice, cooking oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, hand sanitizer, soap, and a variety of beans.
HIPE wishes to express gratitude to all the donors, volunteers, and staff who have supported these COVID-19 relief efforts, with the hope that these items will help the families of our youth who are experiencing hardship during this virus season.
“HIPE xin cám ơn nhà tài trợ, các tình nguyện viên và nhân viên đã hỗ trợ tích cực trong việc phát quà. Hy vọng với món quà này sẽ giúp gia đình các bạn đồng đẳng viên vượt qua khó khăn trong mùa dịch này. #HIPETeam“
For more information about how to support VANGO Network COVID-19 relief efforts, feel free to contact us at 1-714-330-3589 or info@va-ngo.org.
To donate, please visit our donation page here.