The Niteco Charity Engagement Foundation, also known as NICEF, began its journey in 2014, with a commitment to helping those less fortunate in Vietnam. Ever since, NICEF has raised thousands of dollars to help children in need of critical surgeries, build or renovate school buildings, and bring gifts to children in rural areas.
In 2023, NICEF continued to drive positive change through its many impactful projects and its community support. Let us walk you through this journey.
1. Red envelope
For NICEF, the Lunar New Year is an opportunity to start the year’s journey of sharing love and bringing joy to everyone, especially those living in less privileged conditions.
And this year, NICEF organized the event "Buy NICEF's red envelopes - Give a warm Tet Holiday", selling beautiful red envelopes (as traditionally used for gifting money during the Lunar New Year) and donating the profits to poor people. This activity received support from over 200 Nitecans in Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City, raising around VND18,000,000 (~USD750).
2. Winter clothes for children
NICEF paid a visit to the small commune of Kim Bon in the rural Vietnamese province of Son La to sponsor the reconstruction of three schools and donate winter clothes to the schools’ children. NICEF was able to help 150 children with a donation of VND34,500,000 (~USD1450).
3. Warmer Tet for Hoa Binh
January was a productive month for NICEF as we continued our goodwill journey at Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. We supported people from the small village of Hoa Binh with various items and donations of VND16,000,000 (~USD650).
4. Operation Smile (OS)
In April, NICEF kicked off one of the biggest projects of 2023 - a collaboration with Operation Smile. OS is an international medical charity that has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults in developing countries who are born with cleft lip, cleft palate, or other facial deformities. NICEF already partnered with OS in the past to sponsor such surgeries for children in Vietnam. This time, NICEF cooperated with OS to fully sponsor the operation fees of VND50,000,000 (~USD2100) for 5 children with cleft palate at the E Hospital in Vietnam's capital of Hanoi.
Summer came and NICEF chose to embrace the heat with new activities in June and August.
5. Children's Day
To commemorate International Children’s Day, NICEF paid a visit to two charitable homes in the Vietnamese province of Bac Ninh to donate necessities to unfortunate children. This time, NICEF teamed up with "The Rainbow Classroom" to organize the trip. We raised VND16,500,000 (~USD680) and used that amount of donations to buy stationery, food, clothes, and other necessities. The NICEF members also prepared lunch for the children and spent the day with them playing games.
6. Sponsoring scholarships
In a heartwarming display of compassion, on August 27th, NICEF members in Ho Chi Minh City held a charity event that brought hope and new opportunities to 15 underprivileged students in Long Hau Primary School. As part of the event, NICEF awarded scholarships and handed out gifts to the children, ensuring they have access to quality education and a chance for a brighter future.
7. Mid-autumn Festival
October came along with one of the most important holidays in Vietnam - the Mid-autumn Festival. This is traditionally a time of the year when Vietnamese families gather and spend quality time with each other. However, for some children in Pha Don, such celebrations are often limited due to financial constraints. And, to ensure that underprivileged children in the area can celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival just like other children, NICEF came up with the next mission: bring “moonlight” to Pha Don.
NICEF raised around VND11,500,000 (~USD470) and used this contribution to purchase lanterns, decorations, mooncakes, and other essential items for children so they could enjoy a warm, traditional Full Moon Festival.
8. Garage Sale
To wrap up 2023, NICEF spent months preparing a big year-end fund-raising event: the NICEF garage sale. The idea of holding a garage sale came to the minds of NICEF members based on the fact that often, people buy things and then later realize they don't really need them. For most, the solution would be to give these things away to someone who does need them or resell them to make their money back.
NICEF’s Garage Sale offered a third solution. Nitecans could bring unused stuff, old or new, to the event and sell it to other Nitecans. In return, they could also buy things from other Nitecans that they found interesting or useful. And all the proceeds would go to NICEF in a bid to improve the lives of others.
This activity caught the attention of more than 100 Nitecans in Hanoi and earned around VND12,000,000 (~USD500) in proceeds. This amount of money will be saved by NICEF and used for future charity activities.
2023 was a successful year for NICEF, as the charity organization was able to improve the lives of hundreds of people in Vietnam with its projects. Overall, NICEF was able to funded VND275,000,000 (~USD11,300) - with VND80,000,000 donated by Niteco employees and VND195,000,000 contributed by Niteco - and help more than 300 children.
2024 is coming soon and NICEF will be back with its very first project to kick-start the new year. Don't forget to follow Niteco and Niteco Careers on Social Media for more updates.
Niteco and NICEF sincerely thank everyone who has helped us to achieve our mission. Your generosity has changed lives and will forever echo in our hearts!
