Charity during flood season: Kindness must go hand in hand with responsibility

Storms and floods not only take away food and clothing, but also livelihoods and trust. Therefore, sustainable charity must start with a long-term mindset: Helping people restore their lives, supporting the reconstruction of houses, rebuilding roads and bridges, and creating jobs after the storm.

For many years now, charity during storm season has become a community reflex. (Photo: Nhat Anh)

Every storm season, looking at the bare roofs and submerged fields, everyone feels heartbroken. From the Central region to the North, the lands writhing in storms always become the focus of charity - hundreds of relief trucks line up, thousands of hearts gather money, rice, and clothes to send. But in the midst of that sea of ​​love, there is a question that needs to be asked: is charity saving people or saving one's own emotions? And how is social responsibility, especially of influential people, being carried out?

For many years now, charity during the storm season has become a community reflex. When the storm comes, social media is abuzz with calls for donations, and goods are sent to flooded areas. This action comes from compassion, from the culture of “helping each other” which is a beautiful trait of the Vietnamese people.

But goodness, without wisdom, sometimes produces the opposite effect. Many shipments go to the wrong places, relief is duplicated, goods pile up in one place while others are starving, and there are even cases where items are left to rot due to lack of organization. Perhaps the time has come when charity requires not only goodwill, but also understanding and discipline.

Kindness cannot be spontaneous. Storms and floods not only take away food and clothing, but also livelihoods and trust. Therefore, sustainable charity must start with long-term thinking: Helping people restore their lives, supporting the reconstruction of houses, rebuilding roads and bridges, and creating jobs after storms. Many international organizations have followed that direction, considering each donation as a seed for the future. In our country, most activities still stop at "emergency famine relief" which is necessary but not enough.

From another perspective, in the age of social networks, charity also comes with a new element: the public eye. Celebrities - singers, actors, players... with their influence, can mobilize tens of billions of dong in just a few days. When they call, hundreds of thousands of people trust and transfer money. They become "human torches" in the midst of the storm. But because of that, every action of theirs is subject to strict scrutiny. If they are not transparent, do not publicize their finances, do not coordinate with the authorities, that trust can easily be broken.

There have been controversial cases where artists called for donations and then delayed in announcing the results, or did not have a clear plan for how to use them. Public opinion at that time was not only angry because of the money, but also because trust was broken. When trust is lost, people become cautious, afraid of even truly good deeds. And that is the most regrettable thing. Because charity is not a place to test trust, but a place to mend it.

Celebrities, when engaging in social work, are not just charity workers - they are representatives of a culture of responsibility. One post of theirs can reach millions of people; one word can spark a movement. But just one mistake can cause all humanitarian efforts to be questioned. Therefore, transparency is not a choice, but an obligation. Every penny received from the public must be made public - how much is collected, how much is spent, where it is transferred, and whether there is a confirmation record. Only then can social trust be strengthened.

Charity also requires knowledge. It is not good to just give, but to know how to give properly. Some places need lifeboats, life jackets, medicine; others need seeds, livestock, or tuition support for orphans after floods. Effective charity must be based on actual surveys, with close coordination between the government, local organizations and the people. Only then will the flow of charity money reach the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

More than material things, people in the storm-hit areas need faith. They need to feel that they are not abandoned. Each relief truck that arrives not only brings rice and instant noodles, but also the spirit of “we are with you”. That is what keeps this society warm, despite the storms.

Thai Nguyen Provincial Red Cross prepares relief goods for people. (Photo: Do ​​Thoa)

In the era of strong media, there is sometimes confusion between real charity and show charity. Volunteers need to ask themselves: are they doing it to help or to be recognized? A good image can spread, but if that image is not accompanied by real actions, it is just a borrowed moral cloak. In fact, poor people do not need anyone's pity, they just need to be treated with respect and equality.

It is also undeniable that many artists, businesses, and individuals have done charity work with a sincere and quiet heart. Some people have donated money to build schools, others have been involved for decades with the "Warm clothes for the highlands" or "Vegetarian meals for free" programs. These persistent actions do not need to be noisy, but create a longer-lasting effect than any short-term appeal. Because true charity does not lie in the moment of sharing, but in perseverance with kindness.

In modern society, charity needs to be understood more broadly: not just giving money, but sharing knowledge, time, and responsibility. A business contributing technology to warn of natural disasters, a journalist reporting transparently on flooded areas, a student volunteering to help people rebuild their homes - all are charity. Kindness, if organized, can become the strength of the whole community.

Therefore, instead of waiting for the storm to come to provide relief, we should think about prevention and preparation in advance. Building flood-proof houses, planting protective forests, providing disaster response skills, supporting sustainable livelihoods - that is the way of "smart charity". That is when compassion and wisdom go together, so that one day, people in storm-affected areas will no longer have to live in the situation of "rebuilding a house the day before, only to have it swept away by the storm the next day".

Storms and floods are challenges, but they are also opportunities to reflect on people's hearts. When each good person has a little more understanding, each famous person acts a little more responsibly, and each organization is a little more transparent, society will be stronger before any storm.

Charity, if it stops at compassion, will be short-lived. But if it goes hand in hand with responsibility, transparency and intelligence, it will become the lasting strength of an entire nation.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tu-thien-mua-bao-lu-long-tot-can-di-cung-trach-nhiem-331191.html