Along with patrolling to protect the national sovereignty and security over maritime boundaries, the Border Guard Command of the Da Nang Port Border has provided support for poor people who are residing in the city's coastal border area in different ways in an effort to gradually lift them out of poverty. A highlight of their activities to help the poor is a campaign to build a charity piggy bank.

Piggy Bank campaign is launched monthly to encourage staff of the Border Guard Command of the Da Nang Port Border to put money aside for savings and charity in a bid to contribute at least VND 5,000 or VND 10,000 per person to the campaign. A combined total of 12 piggy banks are built every month, and the Border Guards will break their piggy banks to help poor and disadvantaged people by the end of the year.

Since 2014, each staff member of the unit has annually contributed between VND 10 million and VND 12 million to the campaign.

Lieutenant Tran Viet Doan, the Deputy Secretary of the unit, said: "The amount contributed to the campaign by each member is really not much, they show great enthusiasm for taking part in the campaign. Their engagement in building charity piggy bank helps them train themselves to save money and demonstrate their willingness to help others for the sake of community and social welfare".

The money raised from the campaign goes to support both civilian and military families living under difficult circumstances. Most recently, 7 students from poor families have received cash gifts worth VND 9.1 million in total from the unit’s piggy banks.

Nguyen Anh Thu ,15 years old, a ninth grader of the Le Thanh Ton Junior High School, a resident of Thuan Phuoc Ward, Hai Chau District is among the gift recipients. Her family is living in poverty as she lost her father at a young age while her mother now earns a meager income by selling bread. However, Thu has overcome her financial barriers to study hard and show her best academic performance every year.

 “I am very happy to be cared for and supported by the border guards. They treat me like their family. I dream of becoming a soldier like them in the future so that I can help others and give back to those in need," Thu remarked.

Colonel Van Duc Truong the Border Guard Command of the Da Nang Port Border said that building charity piggy banks to help the poor show the border guards’ love and care towards disadvantaged families and poor studious students in an attempt to make their life less difficult, thereby showing the attachment and closer union among Border Guard officers and soldiers, and local residents who are residing in the city's coastal border area.  

Reporting by DOAN QUANG – Translating by H.L