Walk for Vietnam hopes to render aid for those in need due to COVID-19 Delta variant surge

Fountain Valley city officials and community leaders gathered inside council chambers on Friday morning to introduce plans to provide aid to those being adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic abroad.

The city is sponsoring “Walk for Vietnam” in partnership with the Fountain Valley Rotary Club’s Charitable Assn. and Project Oasis Compati.

The event will aim to bring awareness of the ongoing effects of the coronavirus, as well as raise funds for local charities to assist in the continuance of their efforts to fight the pandemic in Vietnam.

“With this new Delta variant, it’s hit Asian countries the hardest,” said Fountain Valley Mayor Michael Vo, who is chairman of the event.

“With that mission, the city of Fountain Valley is sponsoring and helping with this event. Fountain Valley Rotary Club will be the charity association accepting all these donations — not only from the walk, but from the website, and hopefully we can rally the Vietnamese Americans from around the country to see this good cause so they can donate online.

“All of that money will be given back to the 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 “Walk for Vietnam” event will take place on Oct. 2 from 9 a.m. to noon at Mile Square Park Tennis Center (16400 Brookhurst St.).

Speakers at Friday’s news conference detailed the challenges facing the people of Vietnam due to a Delta variant surge, including the deployment of troops to enforce stay-at-home orders.

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

The proceeds are to be redistributed to local nonprofit organizations with a track record of providing relief during the pandemic in Vietnam.

“This is something that hopefully will bring all of us together, and hopefully it will help us heal,” Roxanne Chow of Project Oasis Compati said. “In some ways, I feel this pandemic … tore us apart, and it did so much damage, not just economically, but socially.

“Every family, we’ve experienced a loss in some way, and so I hope that in some ways, we’ll be able to show the people, not just in Vietnam, but around the world, the compassion that we have for all of those who are suffering due to the devastation of COVID-19.”

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

Vo said that at this point, only Orange County-based charities will be considered to receive funds that come out of the event.

He added that charities to which the funds are dispersed will be held accountable to show that the aid has been used to meet the goal of addressing pandemic issues such as food insecurity in Vietnam.

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

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

“That is the whole idea of how we can be united and have it rally the community.”

By Andrew Turner – The Los Angeles Times – September 18, 2021