(VNF) - Residents of Hanoi are invited to participate in the 16^th Annual Hanoi Run for Children (HRC) on December 11^th to help underprivileged children with cancer and heart disease and support local hospitals.

The annual Hanoi Run for Children (HRC) will begin at the main gate of the Thong Nhat (Reunification) Park on Tran Nhan Tong Street, and go around Thien Quang Lake.

The event is an annual social, charity and humanitarian activity hosted by the Embassy of Canada to Vietnam in Hanoi, the Vietnam-Canada Friendship Association (VCFA), the Hanoi Union of Friendship Organisations (HAUFO) and several other organizations.

The HRC fundraising event is now considered a fall tradition in the capital city that draws both expatriates and Vietnamese citizens.

Hanoi Run For Children in 2014. (Photo: Run for Children – Hanoi)

Last year, nearly 10,000 people gathered at the main gate of the Thong Nhat (Reunification) Park, Hanoi on December 6^th to participate in a charitable run around the Thien Quang Lake, Hanoi, to raise funds for the treatment of disadvantaged children with cancer and heart disease.

The run were successfully raised more than VND 1.1 billion (USD 48,800) in cash and VND 200 million (USD 8,800) in kind.

Funds are raised from participants’ cash donations, the sale of t-shirts and food, and corporate sponsorship. All proceeds will be used to fund programs for sick children from poor families at the Hanoi Heart Hospital, the National Hospital of Pediatrics and Heart Beat Vietnam.

HRC was established in 2000 formerly known as the Terry Fox Run Hanoi (2000-2008). However, in order to target underprivileged children with cancer and congenital heart disease, the Canadian Ambassador in Vietnam Deanna Horton suggested changing of the event's name to Hanoi Run for Children in 2009.

HRC attracted more than 80,000 participants and raised more than VND 9 billion (USD 399,200) to assist underprivileged children with cancer and heart disease treatment so far./.

( Compiled by VNF )