In Vietnam, Vo Nguyen Giap Secondary School in Vinh Trach Ward, Ca Mau Province, together with youth union organizations from multiple sectors, launched the "White Shirts for School" project on September 21, redistributing collected old white shirts to students in need after inspection, sorting, washing, bleaching and processing. Some students from poor families also received rice and daily necessities.

Key points

  • Time: September 21, at Vo Nguyen Giap Secondary School, Vinh Trach Ward, Ca Mau Province
  • Participants: Vo Nguyen Giap Secondary School, Vinh Trach Ward Youth Union, the Youth Union of the Cybersecurity Department of the Ca Mau Provincial Public Security Bureau, the school's Youth Union and volunteers
  • Recipients: students from disadvantaged families and ethnic minority areas; besides clean white shirts, they also received rice and necessities

The second "journey" of old shirts

The project's workflow is not complicated, but every step requires hands to pass the baton. The collected shirts are first checked, sorted and catalogued by condition and use: those still wearable are kept directly, while those needing treatment are sent for washing, bleaching and refurbishing, and only after being confirmed clean and tidy are they handed to the students.

Nguyen Truong Bao Thien, a student in class 8A5 at Vo Nguyen Giap Secondary School, was very surprised when he received his shirt. He said the shirt had originally been covered in stains and had faded, but now it was as clean as new. In his view, the meaning of this went beyond the shirt itself—the project let him and other poor students see hope, and he was very grateful to the adults who made it happen.

What the organizers say

Captain Ma Quoc Quang, deputy secretary of the Vinh Trach Ward Youth Union, said the project hoped to bring children a sense of closeness and encouragement, especially students from ethnic minority areas and difficult circumstances. He said providing clean white shirts was meant to make the children happier and more motivated to attend school actively in the new academic year and achieve good results in the years ahead.

What a school uniform conveys

Everyone involved in the project had a role: some donated clothes, some sorted and categorized them, some handled washing and bleaching, and others connected people so the clothes could find new owners. For the recipient students, beyond the material items themselves, what deserves more attention is that the clothes were treated with care throughout the process—giving is not just handing things out, but also preserving the items' condition and respecting the recipients.

This way of handling old clothes also objectively cultivates the habit of thrift and reusing items that still have value. A set of white school uniforms passed through many kind hands and, when it finally returns to campus, carries both continued usability and a feeling of being respected.

Source: The kindness seen in the story of the white shirt · Originally published on 2026-09-28