Dear friends of Benevolent Heart,
This organization began when we collaborated with locals in Vietnam to identify high-poverty communities with great shortage of food and water. With hopes to meet that need, we decided to start small in order to carefully prove the viability and efficacy of our budding charitable intentions. In the fall of 2018, Benevolent Heart set a $2,000 fundraising goal for the procurement of non-perishable essentials. Today, we’re proud to share with you a snapshot of what we actually achieved through our inaugural 2018 Charity Mission!
With great surprise, contributions from our earliest, loving supporters far exceeded the fundraising goal, ultimately raising $5,000 in small-cash donations. With that scale, we were instead able to purchase enough supplies to assemble month-long care packages for our target recipients. All of our volunteers also donated their time and resources to afford international travel, safety and support services, and other supplies, which allowed the mission to be carried out with zero-overhead. Therefore, every penny of the $5,000 went to individuals in-need. Comprised of American and Vietnamese volunteers, our team served children and families in Ho Chi Minh City (HCM) and rural sites across Ninh Hoa Province (NHP) during this first mission!
Inaugural Mission Impact:
Mission components: 3 sites, 10 days
Volunteers: ~20 U.S. and Vietnamese citizens
Total funds utilized: $5,000.00
Overhead costs: 0%
Total families served by food packages: 587
Disabled residents at Lam Quang Buddhist Crisis House, HCM: 137
Disabled families at Hoi Nguoi Mu Thi Xa Ninh Hoa, NHP: 220
Under-resourced families at village sites across NHP: 230
Additional charitable activity
Cash donations on-site: $485.00
Anatomy of a Food Package:
The value of each package totaled approximately US$7.69 and included the following supplies:
1 x Rice sack (5 kilograms = approx. 3 - 4 week supply per family)
1 x Ramen box (30 servings)
1 x Fish sauce bottle (½ liter)
1 x Soy sauce bottle (¼ liter)
1 x Vegetable oil bottle (1 liter)
1 x MSG flavoring package (½ kilograms)
1 x Cookie box (½ kilogram) or 1 condensed milk can (414 milliliters)
As the American dollar stretches so far when beyond the United States, relatively little cost was able to make such a meaningful difference for so many others. We are confident in the impact that Benevolent Heart has made and will continue to make after this first international mission. With this experience now under our belts, we’re excited for what’s to come in the near future: determination of 501(c)3 status, election of members to our board leadership, and new fundraising! Most of all, we can’t wait to begin planning the 2019 Charity Mission!
Thank you for supporting our mission by reading this impact update.
The Benevolent Heart Team