We have all been affected in some way by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions put in place to keep us all safe, but some of us have suffered worse than others. As a team at St. Mary’s, we have been fortunate to be able to work from home and keep our families safe during these difficult times, but we know others in our community haven’t been so fortunate.
During the last week of September, we put out a call to administration, faculty and staff to donate what they could to a fund for vulnerable individuals and families in our community. In the spirit of generosity and teamwork that they respond to everything we do at St. Mary’s, our team responded wholeheartedly with their donations and their time.
In total, we raised over 45 million VND including sizable donations from our administration. In cooperation with the Yen Hoa Community Authority, we were able to identify 50 families in need of assistance. With these funds, we were able to provide the families with food packages including rice, cooking oil, noodles, milk, and other pantry staples. We also provided small cash donations to valuable front-line workers identified by the community. All of the donations were gratefully received and will help families to meet their basic needs as Hanoi works to move out of these difficult times.
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At St. Mary’s, one of our core values is responsibility and we believe that we have a responsibility to our community and to impact positive change around us whenever we can. Our core values are not just an integral part of our curriculum, they also guide who we are as a school community. We are grateful that we could come together and meet the needs of families in our community. A great big Grizzly thank you to all of the team who contributed generously to the relief fund and distribution efforts.
