On the afternoon of September 16, 2024, Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper received 75 million VND from the family of Mr. Pham Xuan Khanh (father of international student Pham Khanh Toan) - Party Secretary, Principal of Hanoi College of High Technology to support people on the Red River bank who suffered damage due to storm No. 3.

This is one of the activities in the fundraising program to support people affected by storm No. 3 organized by Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper.

Towards home

It is known that Mr. Pham Khanh Toan is the son of Mr. Pham Xuan Khanh and his wife, who are studying in the Netherlands and doing an internship in the US. After hearing that storm No. 3 had caused heavy damage to people and property in Vietnam, after work, Pham Khanh Toan took a 4-hour train ride to Times Square, New York City (USA) to carry out the project "Free photography, donating to support Vietnamese people affected by floods". It took Toan 8 hours to travel each day, not counting the 2-3 hours he spent wandering around Times Square to carry out this humanitarian project.

Khanh Toan holds up his cell phone, with clips recording the tragic flooding happening in Vietnam for his American friends to witness and support Vietnam. These days, Khanh Toan only sleeps 4-5 hours, he wants to spend as much time as possible in Times Square, a bustling public activity spot in New York, to raise as much money as possible to send back to Vietnam as soon as possible. Knowing the story, some Vietnamese friends studying in the US have registered to join...

This event has been supported by international friends, family, and reported by some press agencies. Up to now, the amount of money raised has been over 4 thousand dollars. Pham Khanh Toan decided to send 25 million VND to the Vietnam Fatherland Front account. The remaining 75 million VND, the family wants to use the Economic & Urban Newspaper, a prestigious charity address in Hanoi, to support people on the Red River bank in Hoang Mai district.

Hand to the people

On the afternoon of September 16, 2024, at the headquarters, the Editor-in-Chief of the Economic & Urban Newspaper received the above amount of money. The Newspaper's representative contacted the Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoang Mai District, the Party Committee and authorities, and the unions of the 3 wards of Linh Nam, Tran Phu, and Thanh Tri, to make a list and allocate the funds to each household so that the working group could directly visit and hand over the donation.

In Linh Nam ward, the delegation of Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper and the family presented 7 gifts, each worth 2 million VND, to near-poor households and households in difficult circumstances. 16 million VND was handed over to Linh Nam Agricultural Service Cooperative to buy seeds and fertilizers for local households cultivating in the open fields.

The delegation visited the near-poor household of Mr. Dang Dinh Hai, who lives in a dilapidated 10m2 apartment outside the dike, making a living by collecting scrap metal and washing dishes for hire, and has a mentally ill son who is receiving social benefits. The representative of Mrs. Ha Thi Thanh's family, a near-poor household in Residential Group No. 21, Linh Nam Ward, thanked Mr. Pham Xuan Khanh's family and Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper for their concern for households with difficult economic circumstances after the stormy days.

In Tran Phu ward, Mr. Pham Xuan Khanh's family directly gave 20 million VND to households on the Red River bank that suffered damage due to storm No. 3. Comrade Vu Thi Thoa - Secretary of the Tran Phu Ward Party Committee said: After receiving the notice from the Economic and Urban Newspaper, we consulted with the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and the Ward People's Committee, and made a list of 20 households that suffered damage to crops, poultry, and livestock when the Red River rose above alert level 2. Everything was done openly and transparently, so that the kind-hearted family could personally hand it to each household. The money that Pham Khanh Toan and his international friends and American people donated reached the people in time, partly helping the people of Tran Phu ward have more funds to quickly restore their lives after storm No. 3 passed.

Despite the unfavorable weather and heavy rain, the working group still arrived at the public activity site of Residential Group No. 1, Thanh Tri Ward, next to the Red River, to hand over 25 million VND to local residents. Most of these 46 households are located next to the Red River, and a few days ago, they had to pack up their belongings and flee the flood all night.

Ms. Tram Anh, (mother of Pham Khanh Toan), who participated in the delegation, shared: I am sure that on the other side of the ocean, knowing that the money that was collected with great difficulty and sent back to the Fatherland was delivered to the correct address, Toan will be very happy. I believe that in the future, there will be many other young Vietnamese people studying abroad who will take similar actions towards their homeland, sharing the difficulties and losses of our compatriots who were heavily affected by storm No. 3.