An annual activity in the Spring Volunteer Campaign
Banh chung (square glutinous rice cake) making is a staple of the Spring Volunteer Campaign – a volunteer opportunity for students in Ho Chi Minh City universities to help provide a joyful Tet for disadvantaged people.
The event took place on Sunday, attracting over 700 volunteers from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities (HCMC USSH).
This year’s activity attracted 953 participants, all of whom are volunteers of the campaign.
The finished products were gifted to the disadvantaged people living in the Ho Chi Minh City.
The Spring Volunteer Campaign is a series of collegiate volunteering projects which take place before Tet, chiefly aimed at easing the life of the disadvantaged.
The campaign was first initiated at HCMC USSH in 2005 and developed to be a municipality-level collegiate program with participation by thousands of college students in Ho Chi Minh City by 2009.
This year’s campaign started on January 14, with about 30,000 volunteers dispatched to various regions.
The regions included the 24 districts of Ho Chi Minh City, remote and rural areas, offshore islands (including Tho Chu Island of the southwestern Kien Giang Province), hospitals, orphanages, special schools, dormitories, and train and bus stations.
Volunteers participate in donating blood, regulating traffic at bus stations and routes leading out of the city to ease traffic congestion, as well as promoting the tradition of celebrating Tet to the foreign communities.
This year’s campaign featured a “History Campaign,” aimed at commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive victory in 1968.
“I hope [this year’s] campaign will continue the tradition of the volunteering program, making our city a civilized community,” said Nguyen Thi Thu, vice-chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee.