Helping the Homeless
Groups of volunteers in Hanoi have been collecting secondhand warm clothes and donating them to Commented [C1]: People who work for free, without payment.
homeless people living around the capital, where the weather has been especially cold this winter. Commented [C2]: Re-used. Already owned by someone else.
Commented [C3]: People who don’t have a place to live.
Starting on January 4, the Niềm Tin (Belief) group -founded by Tran Quynh Anh- began handing out
jumpers and coats, providing clothing to nearly 30 people on the campaign's first night. Commented [C4]: work in an organized and active way
toward a particular goal, typically a political or social one.
Anh said after she noticed that many homeless vendors, shoe shiners, and carriers, were spending Commented [C5]: Sellers of goods
the cold nights at bus stops, on pavements or under bridges, she decided to act. She began collecting
old warm clothes from friends and family members; washing them; and then donating them to the Commented [C6]: Giving.
local homeless population. Commented [C7]: People in an area
Nguyen Thuy Linh, a Niềm Tin member, said before receiving clothes donated by the group, many of Commented [C8]: Getting
the recipients had only been wearing very thin shirts and had to huddle together in corners in order Commented [C9]: People who are given things.
to stay warm. Commented [C10]: Squeeze tightly together.
"Every time we went out to donate clothes, we wore two or more jumpers, or coats, but still felt
terribly cold,"• Linh said.
The capital city has been facing with one of the coldest winters on record, with temperatures
dropping below 10 degrees, causing primary schools to temporarily close and sparking a 20-percent
increase in the number of adults requiring hospitalization for cold weather related illnesses. Commented [C11]: Treatment in a hospital
Another volunteer group, Ấm (Warm), has been running a charity operation via Facebook for nearly
two years.
Every Saturday night, the group goes out and donates warm clothes, food and personal items,
collected mostly from its source of online supporters, to Hanoi's homeless. Commented [C12]: The place where something begins.
The group shares the locations where homeless people can be found on its Facebook page so that
others can come to help hand out donations. Commented [C13]: Give out.
Nguyen Hoang Thao, leader of the Ấm group, said not only youths, but elderly persons, many of
whom are not healthy enough to go outside in the cold nights, have been helping homeless people
by donating homemade soup and rice porridge for the group to deliver. Commented [C14]: Made at home.
The group also plans to come up with more significant measures designed to help the homeless. Commented [C15]: sufficiently great or important to be
worthy of attention; noteworthy.
"Warm clothes or food can only help them endure the cold for some nights, and after all, they are
still homeless or even jobless. Our group is planning to help find them jobs so that they can lead
better lives,"• said Thao.
These groups go around the city at about 11 p.m., the time homeless people tend to emerge at the Commented [C16]: Regularly or frequently act in a certain way.
locations where they sleep. Commented [C17]: Places
Why is the cold weather causing problems for the homeless?
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How are people trying to help the homeless?
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Why did Tran Quynh Anh decide to help the homeless?
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What are a few different ways we can help the homeless?
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