Canifa - Winter warmth

In 2004, charitable activities were generally small-scale, lacked collective participation, or were programmes implemented by government ministries, agencies, organisations, or government/non-government organisations. Charitable activities typically focused only on disadvantaged families in rural areas. Programmes specifically for children were very limited, and those for children in mountainous regions were even rarer.

During this same period, Canifa’s Finance and Accounting Department had the opportunity to visit children in Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, where they witnessed children enduring temperatures of just above 10°C wearing only short clothing, some with sandals and others barefoot. Little cheeks cracked from the freezing weather, yet they persevered in going to school every day despite the hardship. Deeply moved by this scene, the employees of Canifa’s Finance and Accounting Department called on their colleagues across the company, and with the support of the leadership, Canifa established the “Canifa for the Community” Fund and developed a charitable initiative with the aim of providing new, warm clothing to disadvantaged children.

Canifa’s "Winter Warmth" identified children as the primary beneficiaries of the programme - those who have little or no voice of their own, or whose voices are not strong enough to call for help. Children in mountainous areas are especially vulnerable, growing up in difficult circumstances where they face environmental hardships largely on their own and accept a harsh life as their reality. However, as education has increasingly been promoted by government at all levels and has become a national priority, these children also aspire to learn, aspire to gain literacy, carrying the dreams of escaping hardship, escaping poverty.

Today, although many organisations have done charitable activities by collecting donated second-hand clothing, clean it, and distribute it to disadvantaged communities, the distinguishing feature of Canifa’s "Winter Warmth" programme is that all donated items - including jackets, warm clothing, knitted hats, scarves, and other garments - are brand-new products manufactured by Canifa.

Through the project, Canifa hopes that children will receive a lovely new shirt, a set of warm clothing so they can withstand the harsh cold and go to school with peace of mind. More deeply, Canifa hopes to bring joy to children through the experience of owning new clothes of their own.

After nearly 20 years of operation, Canifa continues to produce brand-new clothing for disadvantaged children and remains one of the few businesses able to provide genuinely new garments to disadvantaged children in mountainous areas.

Objective

Over the next five years, Canifa will continue undertaking new journeys to deliver warm new clothing to children in mountainous areas and to children in rural and underdeveloped regions.

Rather than simply growing independently, Canifa hopes to work together with its business partners, suppliers, and internal Canifa community to expand this charitable model.

The charitable initiative "Warmth for Children" has accompanied Canifa throughout its history of establishment and development. It is also a source of pride for every Canifa employee and a source of joy for colleagues across the business, as they are able to contribute to building a better community together. Therefore, the sustainability of the project is pursued alongside Canifa’s sustainable development strategy.

Vision

Canifa’s long-term vision is to further spread positive values to vulnerable communities in particular and, more broadly, to strengthen solidarity within communities and society, while honouring the spirit of national unity.

Implementation Process – Scope

The Canifa "Winter Warmth" initiative has never placed limits on either the quantity or the material value of its efforts to deliver warmth to children. The company is always ready to produce additional winter clothing, school uniforms, and warming accessories whenever requests or calls for assistance are received.

In addition, hundreds of volunteers have quietly contributed by preparing logistics and packing gifts behind the scenes, ensuring that every gift reaches each child and family with the greatest possible care.

Canifa believes that these contributions are not only meaningful forms of material support but also provide the strength and encouragement the children need to move forward with confidence in overcoming hardship.

Over the course of nearly 20 years, hundreds of thousands of jackets, sweaters, school uniforms, hats, gloves, socks, and other clothing items have been donated to these children. At the same time, Canifa has also donated tens of billions of Vietnamese dong to people experiencing hardship.

The company has demonstrated a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility through significant investments in the community. Specifically, the total value of donated gifts and cash for the charitable programme in Trong Hoa, Quang Binh exceeded VND 180.9 million. In addition, the 2017 "Winter Warmth" project was implemented with a total budget of more than VND 809 million, providing practical support to disadvantaged communities while promoting humanitarian values throughout society.

Canifa currently collaborates with nearly 100 suppliers and partners, and together they are planning and implementing projects similar to "Winter Warmth" so that they can support even more children.