Illume – “Joining hands for the Vietnamese”, a fundraising campaign to support Da Nang is planned and implemented by 5 young Vietnamese girls living in the US.
When Nguyen Ha expressed her wish to reinforce Da Nang against Covid-19, she was immediately supported by four friends in different US states.
Just a few days later, their campaign titled “Joining hands for Vietnam” was born with the goal of gathering all resources to raise funds and send them back home within a week.
Because of their short-term fundraising goal, their biggest challenge is the limited time. Three of the girls in this group are working while taking care of their young children, especially during this time, they do not go to school because of covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the workload is large but needs to be completed urgently, so each person has to triple the effort compared to normal, sleep less, do more.
With her experience as a brand manager of a large beverage corporation in North America, Thuy Lan, who lives in Southern California, works on content for social media channels, supports media and manages Gofundme fundraising.
Nguyen Ha, who came up with the idea of fundraising, attended Harvard University and took care of two young children in Houston, Texas, took on the role of accountant and promoter for the campaign at the same time.
Doan Thi Minh Phuong lives in Saint Louis city, Missouri, in charge of foreign affairs and communication for the campaign. As the founder and operator of many student and expert organizations in the US, within just a few days, she has connected the fundraising campaign with more than 20 professional organizations, students and the Vietnamese community in America. Japanese, Korean.
Bui Ngoc Thi, currently studying Master of Science in Neurology and Behavior at Massachusetts University, is in charge of translating content from Vietnamese into English.
Meanwhile, Truong Phan Ngoc My, working in the medical technology sector in Boston, Massachusetts, became a bridge between the group and the volunteers in her home country to identify organizations and individuals that need help as well as operational support partners.
In addition, they also received the contribution of Ngo Ngoc Linh, an alumnus of Foreign Trade University working in Hanoi. Linh works full time during the day in Vietnam, and comes back to stay awake and design the campaign at night.
This campaign quickly spread, receiving warm support from alumni, students, to Vietnamese experts, businessmen and scholars across the United States. By day three, the campaign had crossed the US border, received sponsorship from groups in Japan and Korea and now has 20 fundraising companion groups.
The campaign officially kicked off on the evening of August 16, and that same evening, 35 people supported about $1,500. End of the second day, the amount increased to $4,700. On August 21, an unnamed sponsor donated $650, helping the program reach the $10,000 mark while there are still two days left before the time to raise. The campaign attracted 1,300 shares on social networks, support from stronger sponsors and the Facebook page of “Joining hands for Vietnam” has been completely known by 24,000 people thanks to the sharing of the community.