In recent days, as Vietnam’s central provinces struggle with historic floods, a profound wave of compassion has risen across the country. From bustling cities to rural villages, from religious communities to businesses and volunteer groups, countless hearts have turned toward the disaster-stricken regions.

The response is not only rapid and widespread, it is deeply emotional, reflecting the enduring Vietnamese spirit of “The haves help the have-nots”.

In Hanoi, residents across various streets and neighborhoods have brought drinking water, instant noodles, raincoats, and clean clothing to makeshift collection points. From early morning until late evening, volunteers remain on duty at these community-organised collection points. With only a few folding tables, handwritten signs, and cardboard boxes, the sites quickly attract a steady flow of donors.

Not only households but also small businesses, eateries, mini-marts, and private enterprises have contributed large quantities of drinking water, high-quality raincoats, thin blankets, and essential goods. Several transport companies have volunteered small trucks to gather supplies from different locations and deliver them to temporary storage points.

At many residential areas, dozens of boxes were filled within just a few hours. Young volunteers handle the recording, sorting, and labeling of each box to facilitate the distribution in flood-stricken areas. Once enough supplies are collected, they are dispatched the same day to relief teams preparing to depart.

Collection activities are expected to continue in the coming days to ensure timely support for affected residents as they work to stabilise their lives after the floods.

Across southern Dong Nai province, hundreds of residents have gathered through the night at community centres to make cakes, sort essential goods and pack clothing. By dawn, 3,000 cakes and truckloads of supplies were already on their way to the flood-hit provinces. Within just 15 days, the Dong Nai Fatherland Front have also received nearly VND3 billion in donations on top of the VND70 billion contributed during the first phase of support.

Large businesses, too, have reacted swiftly. Agribank, the largest bank in rural Vietnam, allocated VND11 billion in emergency aid. Without waiting for official calls for help, the bank dispatched funds directly to branch offices in Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, and Lam Dong to support affected communities and damaged health facilities and schools. The first disbursement in Khanh Hoa took place on November 22, even as parts of the province remained submerged.

From the highlands, coastal regions, and islands, compassion continues to flow. The Phu Quy Tourism Association prepared half a tonne of fresh fish to cook 1,000 hot meals for Dak Lak residents, while the remainder was processed into canned goods for long-term relief.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City has mobilised hundreds of doctors from the Young Physicians Association to travel overnight into flood zones, providing free check-ups and medicine to people within two days. Emergency kitchens serving 10,000–12,000 meals daily were set up across severely affected neighborhoods. Across the city, 20 more tonnes of relief goods departed on November 23, adding to the 105 tonnes previously delivered.

Religious communities have also stood shoulder to shoulder with the affected communities, with pagodas mobilising volunteers, preparing donations, and helping to sort thousands of items at collection points. Even those on vacation, like families in Vung Tau, paused their holiday to donate supplies to the central region.

Military forces have joined hands as well. Border Guard units in Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria–Vung Tau worked overnight to prepare hundreds of bánh tét cakes. Each cake carried not only nourishment but also the message of unity from soldiers to the people in hardship.

In Hue city that has just recovered from four consecutive floods, the generosity is even more touching. Villages that had been underwater for days still organised donation drives for the even harder-hit provinces of Phu Yen and Binh Dinh. At Xuan Tuy village, residents who had just cleaned mud from their homes gathered rice, noodles, and funds. One resident, whose own property suffered heavy damage, spearheaded a drive that collected nearly VND40 million in cash and truckloads of essential items.

This gesture is repeated across the city as inner-city wards become bustling donation hubs, volunteer groups work non-stop, and container trucks full of goods are dispatched southward.

“Everyone contributes what they can - little or much,” shared one organiser. “Because we all know what it feels like to face the floodwaters.”

In Da Nang, despite heavy rain, hundreds of people, including the elderly, young families, and even a group of Russian residents living in the city, have arrived at relief stations with clothes, blankets, milk, and water. Many rode motorbikes for kilometers under the storm to deliver their donations. Volunteer teams quickly assembled tens of tonnes of goods, which were urgently transported to Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Khanh Hoa – the three localities bearing the brunt of the historic flooding.

Thousands of kilometers away from the epicentre of the disaster, generosity has still surged. In Dak Lak, people in the western districts that were unaffected by the floods mobilised to assist the eastern region of their own province. Over four days, the provincial Fatherland Front received more than 9,700 boxes of instant noodles, 6,300 boxes of milk, 58 tonnes of rice, 73,000 packages of dry rations, and tonnes of fresh produce worth over VND12 billion in total, with an additional VND23 billion donated through bank accounts and in cash.

Throughout the central region, relief has been delivered with a guiding principle embraced nationwide: “No one will be left behind.”

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