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Information with Zeta Phi!
Mizzou Beta
Makes an
International
Impact
Davis Hurth '19 Raises over
$1,500 for Nhat Hong Center
T
his summer, Zeta Phi member Davis Hurth
'19 traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam,
with the Office of Service-Learning at the
University of Missouri to indulge in a month of
new experiences. Hurth volunteered and taught
English at the Nhat Hong Center, an elementary
school for children with visual impairments and
developmental disabilities.
The Nhat Hong Center is one of nine schools
in Vietnam funded by the Blind Vietnamese
Children Foundation (BVCF), a nonprofit
organization based out of San Francisco. Within
the first few days of work, Sister Kim Phung Le,
principal of the Nhat Hong Center, expressed the
school's serious need for funding. 2017 proved
to be a troubling year for the BVCF, as the
organization did not receive enough donations or
grants to sustain all nine schools. If this course
continued, Sister Kim was unsure if the Nhat
Hong Center would be able to reopen its doors to
students in the fall.
While some donations come from outside
sources, much of the fundraising is done by
Nhat Hong staff themselves. Staff members with
physical and mental impairments produce an
array of items, including purified water, coffee,
and jewelry, to distribute locally or, in this case,
globally. Overcome with a desire to help the
community, Hurth took a call to action.
Hurth decided to use his remaining funds to
bring a few dozen bracelets back home to sell
to friends and family. In Vietnam, the bracelets
have a market value of about $0.50, but Hurth
realized he could sell them for a higher price and
use the profits to support Nhat Hong. After his
initial stock sold out almost immediately, Hurth
contacted the president of the BVCF to see if
he could resupply. Again, all the bracelets sold
within days.
With the help of his professor on the trip and Mike
Alden, former Athletic Director of MU, Hurth
was able to give Alden the money he collected
in exchange for more bracelets. Since his initial
investment, Hurth has raised over $1,500 for the
Nhat Hong Center, enough to feed his classroom
of 10 breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next
three months.
