On April 9^th, a kick off ceremony for a Helmets for Kids program sponsored by Johnson & Johnson took place in Dong My school in Quang Binh Province. This ceremony was the first of AIP Foundation’s largest targeted program to date, which will provide a total of 11,000 helmets to 20 schools in Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, and Dong Nai. In addition, teachers have been trained in helmet use education and students will participate in extracurricular activities throughout the year. While Dong My School’s 450 students were present at this event, parent and teacher representatives from the eight additional project schools in Quang Binh also attended the celebration. Also in attendance were representatives from the Department of Transportation, the People’s Committee, the Traffic Safety Committee and the Department of Education. In total, 3,000 helmets are being donated to schools in Quang Binh.

The funding for this program was donated by Johnson & Johnson through the FIA Foundation and WHO-run Road Safety Fund for the Decade of Action. As most of AIP Foundation’s Helmets for Kids programs have taken place in or around Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Johnson & Johnson’s outreach to central provinces such as Quang Binh shows a real commitment to assisting schools with limited road safety education funding and experience. Indeed, the students at Dong My School were thrilled with their new yellow helmets and drove off wearing them proudly.