March for Vietnam hopes to bring help to those in need amid wave of COVID-19 Delta variants

On Friday morning, Fountain Valley town officials and community leaders gathered in the council chamber to present plans to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic abroad.

The city sponsors “Walk for Vietnam” in partnership with the Rotary Club of Fountain Valley charity. and the Oasis Compati project.

The event will aim to raise awareness of the current effects of the coronavirus, as well as raise funds for local charities to help them continue their efforts to fight the pandemic in Vietnam.

“With this new Delta variant, it hits Asian countries the hardest,” said Michael Vo, Mayor of Fountain Valley, chairman of the event.

“With this mission, the Town of Fountain Valley is sponsoring and helping with this event. The Fountain Valley Rotary Club will be the charity that accepts all of these donations – not just from the walk, but from the website, and I hope we can rally Vietnamese Americans across the country to see this great cause. so they can donate online.

“All this money will be donated to local Vietnamese American nonprofit groups with 501C3 so that they can invest with [contact] the Rotary Club, and they can help Vietnam in their own way.

The March for Vietnam event will take place on October 2 from 9 am to noon at the Mile Square Park Tennis Center (16400 Brookhurst St.).

Speakers at Friday’s press conference detailed the challenges the Vietnamese people face as a result of a Delta variant wave, including the deployment of troops to enforce stay-at-home orders.

Councilor Ted Bui, president of the Fountain Valley Rotary Club, said transparency is a priority for the club when it comes to managing donations.

The proceeds are to be redistributed to local non-profit organizations with a track record of helping during the pandemic in Vietnam.

“This is something that will hopefully bring us all together, and I hope it helps us heal,” said Roxanne Chow of Project Oasis Compati. “In some ways, I feel like this pandemic… has torn us apart, and it’s done so much damage, not just economically, but socially.

“Every family, we have experienced loss in one way or another, and so I hope that in some way we will be able to show people, not just in Vietnam, but around the world , the compassion we have for all of those suffering from the devastation of COVID-19. ”

Gary Forman, the treasurer of the Fountain Valley Rotary Club, said checks would be the preferred method of giving, but all contributions received will be “monitored at all times, verified and double-counted.”

Vo said that at this point, only charities based in Orange County will be considered to receive funds from the event.

He added that the charities to which the funds are distributed will be held accountable for showing that the aid has been used to achieve the goal of solving pandemic problems such as food insecurity in Vietnam.

Local charities interested in asking for funds to help the cause can do so by sending an email to walkforvietnam@gmail.com. It is also the line of communication for learning how to donate.

“This is something that is not just our responsibility,” Vo said. “It is our duty, that we can step up to show the world that we care.… When we walk here, even if it is the March for Vietnam, to raise money for Vietnam, for the local community,… it raises awareness of how devastating COVID is.

“That’s the whole idea of ​​how we can be united and rally the community.”

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