FCVN would like to thank Thuy LeNguyen for hosting this year’s fundraiser, thank you!

It was way past midnight when Quynh Nguyen cashed in the jackpot for his first place prize, a flat screen, LCD HDTV. 2nd place winner: Yixing Qin, took a shortcut home using his Garmin Nuvi GPS. 3rd place winner: Glenn Ngo, went home singing with his Apple Ipod. 4th place winner: Brain Chang, was smiling for the camera, digital camera that is…his. 5th place winner: Tim Taporco, won a tic toc clock Ipod dock.

Everyone that participated was a winner; together: we raised over $4,700.00 for FCVN.

FCVN would also like to thank our volunteers who made the event “cheer-full.”

Our Beautiful Bar-keeps: Michelle Le & Chau Tran
&
Our, “too Sexy for our boots” cocktail waitresses:
Candice Duong
Teresa Dang
Anne Do

Marisa Arbuaratna and her son were awesome as the Karaoke Mix Masters

and Dat Nguyen, who was such a big help collecting all of the tickets at the door.

     On January 13, 2008, when the FCVN arrived in Saigon, their volunteers in Vietnam already had everything in place to logistically ensure a successful mission.  Our mission: to bring money, clothes, toys and food to children in need.  We began with Maison Amour orphanage in Sa Dec, where we were greeted by 50+ orphans with impeccable manners.  The volunteers told stories and sang Christmas carols with the children.  They drew pictures for us.  Hugs and tears were exchanged as we waved our good-byes. 
     Our next stop was tough: The Children’s Hospital in Saigon.  We had to step over families sleeping in the hallways.  This is their home until their child can go home.  In the Burn Unit, a 5-year-old child had to have both legs amputated the next day because he fell into a trash incinerator.  In the Kidney Unit, we saw many children with swollen abdomen and purple tongue (symptoms of kidney failure).  We passed out stuffed animals to the children and money to twenty poorest families in each unit.  Then we headed over to the soup kitchen that feeds the patients and their families and gave them money to buy rice.  That evening, we visited a blind boy that we have been sending to school for the last two years (he is now in the 2^nd grade), and were rewarded with a thank you letter written in Braille. 
     The next day, we visited a small house that has 50 orphans—most of which were sticky and dirty.  One baby was running a fever.  The food we brought was immediately consumed.  Only one person works there—and she was overwhelmed.  We received many sticky hugs and kisses.  And the children drew beautiful pictures for us to take back.
     In Hanoi, we helped Global Community Service Foundation with their fundraiser dinner and art auction.  It was a huge success.
     In Hue, we took a 4-hr tour around the city by “xich lo”.  We saw the Vietnam not in any tourist guide: children playing in the trash, women washing clothes in polluted river water, a village where they collect plastic bags from the dumps, then wash and sell them to a plastic recycling plant for pennies a day, children with severe deformities from agent orange, and a market where what the vendors had to sell would fetch $1 if all the goods were sold that day.  We even visited the xich-lo drivers’ home, which floats on a polluted river.  One driver had to give up 3 of his 4 children to an orphanage.  In the end, we bought 3 “xich lo” for them because the xich lo we were riding on were rented—they were too poor to own them.  They could not stop thanking us.  We also visited Kim Long orphanage with 100 disabled children.  It admirably tries to sustain itself with a daycare center and selling candies glued on foam figures.
     In Thu Duc (1 hr outside Saigon), we visited an orphanage that has a school for disabled children.  At the Picasso house, we visited with 250 orphans.  The orphanage is set up family style: 25 houses, each house has a “mother” and 10 children.  Nearby is an orphanage with 100 children, all infected with HIV, and some also have tuberculosis and hepatitis.  We passed out hundreds of red envelopes with money (li xi) to happy children.
We also managed to visit with Father Viet who oversees 500 disabled orphans in Rach Gia and Father Cuong from Dong Nai to give education scholarships to 20 children who otherwise would not be able to go to school. 

Finally, an exhausted but satisfied team left Vietnam on January 28.  Mission accomplished.