(VOVWORLD) - Appeals for donations are circulating all over the Internet amid the most devastating wave of the COVID-19 pandemic so far. In Vietnam, funds are being raised for medical equipment, vaccines, cooling jackets for health workers, carton beds for children in lockdown, an oxygen bank for Ho Chi Minh City, free food, and many other necessities. Online platforms have emerged as a game changer. The Center for Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI) launched the “One Egg A Day” charity initiative to raise money for medical supplies for frontline workers and free meals and necessities for poor people during the pandemic.
Before the explosion of online platforms, fundraising relied mainly on the traditional method of writing grant proposals and applying for funding from charitable foundations and development agencies. Charity organizations gave little thought to soliciting donations from individuals, reaching out only to institutional donors. But with digital platforms, they can’t go wrong, according to Khuat Thi Hai Oanh, Executive Director of the Center for Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI).
Oanh said, “The internet and digital platform enable us to reach out to a large number of donors, including individuals. There is almost no limitation in term of reach once we post it on Facebook or other social media platforms which are later shared beyond our knowledge, basically, so that the reach is much larger than the traditional method.”
The One Egg A Day initiative collects money through other channels than just its own bank account, Oanh said, “There is a new method we have used recently, which is to collaborate with an electronic wallet like MOMO. MOMO works with us to raise funds from MOMO users and from people supporting the initiative. By having a collaboration with MOMO, we are able to reach out to hundreds of thousands of people and get their donation or at least their attention to our initiative.”
 One Egg A Day collaborates with MOMO electronic wallet to reach out to more donors. (Photo: One Egg A Day) |
Vu Ngoc Hoa, the Center’s Communications and Social Mobilization Manager, added, “In cooperation with e-wallet providers, the fundraising of One Egg A Day has increased in terms of total amount and number of donors. For example, last month, the donations from those platforms accounted for 10% of the total donations we received. And that's a really good sign. We don't think first of increasing the number of donors, we just want to carry out the program that can contribute the most to society. And we look for partners who share the same vision. Once we have the same mindset, we save a lot of time and effort.”
Technology brings huge benefits but also creates certain problems. For One Egg A Day, it’s difficult to invest a lot of money in technology and the staff to manage it. Oanh said her team is trying to reach donors who are willing to help but aren’t active on Facebook or don’t use e-wallets.
 Medical staff and patients of the Hanoi Lung Hospital receive food, donated via One Egg A Day, in packages painted by VinSchool pupils to deliver their messages, such as "Stay safe", "Keep up your good work", and "Love". (Photo: One Egg A Day) |
Hoa said, “One Egg A Day has carried out a number of COVID-19 campaigns in critical areas. The first category of campaigns is to support the hospitals, doctors, and medical staff. And the second one is to support the extremely poor people who are the most vulnerable because of COVID. They have no job, no money, no house, and no food. We provided rescue food packages for more than 4,000 poor households in HCMC, Hanoi, Da Nang, and other provinces. And we will continue to do so with the pandemic escalating in Vietnam. Another big campaign is in Ho Chi Minh City, where we provided 3,000 oxygen masks, 200,000 oxygen bottles and tanks, and more than 1,000 pieces of oxygen equipment to hospitals and emergency centers.”
 Pieces of oxygen equipment are provided for Ho Chi Minh City using fund raised by One Egg A Day (Photo: One Egg A Day) |
One Egg A Day is putting out calls for money and non-cash contributions, like milk, rice, instant noodles, soy salt, cooking oil, peanuts, fried fish, and eggs.
“We want to contribute to the nation’s COVID-19 response and deliver care to those who need it the most. We’re happy that we can share what we’re doing at One Egg A Day. We truly hope that, together, we can stay strong and help each other get through this difficult time,” according to Hoa.