Since November 21, Ho Chi Minh City has launched a full-scale relief effort to support flood-stricken central provinces. As of now, 211 tons of aid - including 50,000 essential supply bags and 10,000 family medical kits - have been sent or are en route to Khanh Hoa and other severely affected areas.

On November 23, nearly 100 university students and over 200 citizens, including members of the militia and the Vietnam Women’s Union, arrived early at the city’s Fatherland Front headquarters to pack relief bags destined for flood victims in the central region.

The packages are carefully packed with food, medicine, and life vests. Among the volunteers was 78-year-old retired teacher Pham Thi Bac, whose hands occasionally trembled with age as she gently arranged each item. “People in Central Vietnam are suffering so much. As long as I have strength, I’ll keep helping,” she said.

From the outset, the city has coordinated six main areas of response: essential supplies, medical support, environmental and infrastructure recovery, restoring communication systems, expanding volunteer forces, and emergency logistics.

In total, the city has received and dispatched 211 tons of supplies - 50,000 relief bags and 10,000 family medicine kits - into the heart of the flood zone.

The night of November 22 saw streams of people arriving nonstop, carrying boxes of instant noodles, bottled water, bread, canned goods, raincoats, life jackets, blankets, flashlights, and other necessities for those stranded by floods.

Everything was quickly sorted and packed into bags, each ready to be delivered.

Over 100 volunteers worked in a rapid chain to ensure the goods were loaded onto trucks in the shortest time possible. Nguyen Thi Truc Lam, a fourth-year university student, said: “I arrived at 7:30 p.m. to help sort and pack. Each bag must have everything needed so that it’s ready for immediate use when given to the families.”

Singer Nguyen Duyen Quynh, who personally helped carry boxes, shared: “Seeing people in Central Vietnam struggling against the floodwaters, I truly felt the spirit of solidarity from Saigon. These gifts are not just supplies - they’re messages that say: ‘You’re not alone.’”

Each relief bag was packed with a handwritten message of compassion and encouragement: “Stay strong, Central Vietnam!” or “Wishing you health and peace.”

At exactly 2:15 a.m. on November 23, a government truck with license plate 77R-008.14 - 13.72 meters long and weighing over 30 tons - departed from the Youth Cultural House. It was the first convoy in Ho Chi Minh City’s urgent aid campaign for the central region.

Vo Thanh Vinh, the driver of this special truck, said: “I feel small compared to what the people there are enduring. But being the one to deliver Saigon’s love at this moment - I feel incredibly proud. This is the heaviest load I’ve ever carried - heavy with compassion.”

Through the night, the aid trucks pushed forward toward the central provinces. Behind them were hundreds of caring hearts, sleepless hands, and quiet prayers.

In the face of disaster, Ho Chi Minh City once again showed the enduring spirit of “the healthy helping the hurting” - an enduring truth in Vietnamese life.

Tuan Hung