Phong Hòa Pagoda, Cao Lãnh, Đồng Tháp: 2025 Spring Charity Visit

On March 14, 2025, the Compassionate Hands team from California gave gifts at Phong Hòa Pagoda in Đồng Tháp and explained why monthly rice had to drop from 10 kg to 5 kg.

On March 14, 2025, a delegation from the Compassionate Hands Foundation (Hội Từ Thiện Bàn Tay Nhân Ái) of California visited Phong Hòa Pagoda in Cao Lãnh, Đồng Tháp province, to give gifts to poor families. It was the first stop of the foundation's 2025 charity trip across Vietnam, and by the head monk's count the 18th year of the program.

From Saigon to Cao Lãnh

The trip began with prayers for safe travel as the buses pulled out. The road from Ho Chi Minh City to Cao Lãnh is almost 150 km and took more than three hours, past bridges, rivers and rows of tall coconut palms. Members of the team said they felt uneasy along the way: worried about villagers waiting in the sun, about students who needed to reach their exams on time, about getting the gifts organized.

The head monk reminded everyone of a simple teaching on giving: there is a right way to give, and it matters as much as the gift. The narrator said this helps each person stay careful and mindful while handing over a package.

Monthly rice, and why 10 kg became 5 kg

Before the distribution, Venerable Thích Minh Nhựt, the foundation's president, spoke to the villagers. For many years the foundation has sponsored monthly rice for elderly people living alone, 10 kg per person per month. Phong Hòa was one of about 80 pagodas it once supported this way. After covid, Vietnamese living abroad also struggled and donations fell, so about 40 pagodas remain.

He explained that current funding would cover 10 kg only for about 20 pagodas. The foundation chose to keep all 40 and give each person 5 kg, because every pagoda has families in real need and he did not want to drop anyone.

Even if it is not 10 kg, 5 kg is still better than not getting a single kilo each month.

Venerable Thích Minh Nhựt, President

He added that at times he wondered whether the foundation could keep sponsoring rice at all, and whether it should only bring gifts once a year. But he could not set aside the stories he saw in the film clips of families, and decided to continue.

The gifts that day

More than 70 Buddhists from the United States came on this year's trip. Each package held 20 items: rice, noodles, fermented bean curd, soy sauce, sugar, salt, MSG, sweets, toothpaste, a blanket, milk, cooking oil and dried food. The packages for students also included a school bag, supplies, a hat and sandals.

Many team members are elderly, yet they carried the goods and walked each recipient out to the vehicle for the ride home. Younger members helped too, supporting the frail. The video narrator describes thin hands holding onto members' shoulders, moved faces as people hugged boxes of rice and noodles, and the thanks of the villagers.

What remains

Before the trip the foundation sent a letter to its supporters, and some added new contributions. The president said that restoring 10 kg of rice for all 40 pagodas would take many more sponsors, and he hopes that after this trip more Buddhists will step forward.

Besides the families on monthly support, the team met others in equal hardship whom the foundation cannot help every month. For them it gave one-time gifts. The team hopes the foundation will be a source of support for the villagers, and an example for young people to learn sharing and humility and to be useful to society. After Phong Hòa, the group moved on along the route of the trip.