Gala dinner, run raise funds for children with heart diseases
	Cycle4plan: Dutch sponsors raise funds for children in Vietnam
	Japan sponsores 1.7 million USD to enhance education quality for ethnic minority children

At the press conference on November 18.

The annual event will be co-hosted by the Vietnam – Canada Friendship Association (VCFA), the Hanoi Union of Friendship Organisations (HAUFO) and the Canadian Embassy in Vietnam.

For over 15 years, the Hanoi Run for Children has been bringing an important awareness surrounding corporate social responsibility and healthcare issues to the forefront in Vietnam. Support for the Hanoi Run for Children has been overwhelming, most recently attracting more than 10,000 participants and raising over 1.2 billion VND for underprivileged children suffering with cancer and heart disease.

This support goes a long way to ensuring that these children receive necessary treatment and care from the National Hospital of Pediatrics, Hanoi Heart Hospital and in the Heartbeat Vietnam program of VinaCapital Foundation. The event has become a popular corporate team building activity, and is an excellent opportunity for both public and private organizations to support their local community.

VCFA General Secretary Nguyen Thi Thu Giang said the run will raise fund for not only children in Hanoi but also their disadvantaged fellows across the country, adding that it is a people-to-people exchange activity that will make effective contributions to promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the people of Vietnam and those of other countries, and with Canadians in particular.

Don Lam, CEO of VinaCapital Foundation, said the run’s organising board has helped the VinaCapital-funded Heartbeat Vietnam programme approach the goal of removing birth defects from the most difficult issues in health care for poor children.

A shirt selling campaign will be held seven days before the event. For each shirt sold at 100,000 VND, buyers will contribute 50,000 VND to young patients.

Formerly known as Terry Fox Run launched in 2000, the Run raises about 1 billion VND (43,400 USD) every year./.