2019 Annual Report

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone.  We at the Children of Vietnam Benevolent Foundation count our blessings everyday, but feel especially thankful to have your ongoing love and support.

Thank you again to all the friends and supporters who attended our 7th Annual Fundraising Gala at the Emperor’s Palace on September 28th. Even when you weren’t able to make it, you still sent in generous donations in support of our efforts. The night wouldn’t have been a success without special contributions from our Master of Ceremony Michelle Dang and the many young talents — vocalist Carisa Le Nha Uyen, the dancers from Lac Hong school, Chua Phat Quang, and Vietnamese Student Union of Edmonton, and volunteers from the McEwan University students. Together, we were able to raise over $50,000 this year to continue our efforts to give hope and opportunities to impoverished children in Vietnam through love, education and the provision of basic needs. We, as well, are able to extend aid to children here and around the world.

This past year saw us expend $70,000 on many important projects. Some of the highlights include the completion of Cau Tinh Thuong bridge in Soc Trang to help children cross the river safely to go to school. We also built wells in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai and installed plumbing and a water line for a teaching facility in Long My. It was amazing to see the overwhelming joy on the children’s face when they were be able to, for the first time, turn on tap water and use clean water for cooking, cleaning, everything from bushing their teeth to washing their hands and faces. Our foundation also funded projects to provide children with new shoes, coats, beds, uniforms, school supplies, bicycles, and scholarships.  In fact, we awarded $10, 875 in scholarship funds to underprivileged students this past year. And we continue to help provide basic necessities to ten orphanages throughout Vietnam.

In memory of our dear friend, Van Tran, we distributed dental supplies to schools and orphanages. One of our directors, Huynh Anh, in collaboration with a Medical Aid organization, was able to purchase equipment and supplies to carry out a dental mission in memory of Van. We are especially proud of the Van Tran memorial scholarship that Dr. Grace Diem and team are working to set up to help post-secondary students here in Alberta. Locally, we were able to direct funds to Hope Mission and the Autism society to help them in their mission. We are excited that this year, some of our funds will go helping build a well in Mforya, Cameroon.

Everything we as a foundation have done or provided — no matter how big or small — for these children and communities have been so appreciated by the thousands of children and the people in those communities. We know this because we can see their gratefulness  reflected in their beautiful smiles and heartfelt messages to our foundation.

We’ve done so much together, but there’s so much more that is needed by these schools orphanages, and communities in Vietnam, here and around the world. Thank you so much again for continuing to be a part of this effort.