More than 3 billion VND successfully raised from “Run For The Heart 2020”

Gamuda Land Vietnam (“Gamuda Land”) in collaboration with the Heartbeat Vietnam program – The VinaCapital Foundation (“VCF”) successfully organized the 8th ‘Run for the Heart 2020’ fundraising campaign with a total amount of funds raised 3,213,523,788 VND, an equivalent to nearly 115 congenital heart children that will be sponsored for free surgery.

With the meaningful message “Heart to Heart – Raise the lives”, Run for the Heart is a charity run program annually organized by Gamuda Land and Heartbeat Vietnam with the aim of raising funds to fund heart surgery for poor children across the country, bringing healthier lives and brighter futures for them. Launched in 2013, through 7 times of organizing, the program has raised over 32 billion VND, helping more than 1,200 disadvantaged children with congenital heart defects to have their life-saving surgeries. With the great results that season 8 brings, the number of Vietnamese children supported by the program has increased to over 1,300 children, as well as total funds raised exceeded 35 billion VND.

Running for the heart every year is a series of fundraising activities that take place throughout the month, marking the end with the nail event of a jogging day in Celadon City’s international urban area (Tan District). Phu, Ho Chi Minh City), often attracts nearly 10,000 participants per year. In the specific context of 2020, in order to organize the event responsibly to prevent the risk of Covid-19 outbreak in the community, the “race track” of the Run for the Heart 2020 will be held entirely in cyberspace which would promise to bring interesting experiences for racers. The organizers have partnered with Vietrace365, one of the most popular online virtual race platforms in the running community of Vietnam to offer “the race courses” nationwide. Racers just need to access and register on the link Chạy vì trái tim online. In addition to donating the full entry fee (from VND 150,000 / runner) to Heartbeat Vietnam in order to help poor children with congenital heart disease to receive heart surgeries, the runners can also take part in a useful sports playground with the opportunity to receive medals and exciting rewards from the tournament.

Particularly, the biggest highlight of this year’s event is the unique format of fundraising through a series of mini gameshows broadcast live on the event’s official communication channels including the Facebook pages CHẠY VÌ TRÁI TIM, GAMUDA LAND VN, and the YouTube channel GAMUDA LAND VN. The gameshows with the participation of famous artists will contribute to spreading the message of kindness and calling for the community to join hands to help bring a brighter future to poor children with diseases. congenital heart in Vietnam.

Moreover, it is also an ambition for Run for the Heart 2020 to “climb Top Trending” when the theme song “Run For The Heart”, originally written by composer Duong Khac Linh, now hugely participated by the star-studded cast – more than 30 celebrities such as Lam Truong, Hoang Bach, Nguyen Phi Hung, Quoc Nghiep – Ngoc Mai, Nam Cuong, Luu Hien Trinh, Ha Nhi, Miss Hoang Phuong… and a “very trendy spice” from two King Of Rap’s contestants namely Lona and Dablo. Although it is a charity project, it can be said Run for Heart 2020 is also an extremely interesting entertainment program with the unique creativity of the organizer.

Speaking at the final ceremony that was recorded and broadcast live on Facebook, Mr. Angus Liew, General Director of Gamuda Land (HCMC) shared: “The year 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. For families with children with congenital heart defects, the past year has been even more difficult. Therefore, amid these difficulties, we believe that we need to be more determined in the organization of fundraising for heart surgery for children. That’s why we continue to keep Run for the Heart in 2020. And I’m really proud that we were all able to make the 8th Run for the heart a success.”

CEO of VCF, Mr. Rad Kivette said: “All of us at the VinaCapital Foundation appreciate Gamuda Land’s long-term partnership with the Heartbeat Vietnam program. From 2013 up to now, Gamuda Land has helped support more than 1,200 children with congenital heart defects in difficult circumstances to have timely surgery. There will be 115 more children who will be supported for heart surgery this year to have the opportunity to grow up healthily, opening up a better future for them and their families. I believe that the positive and loving message from the event will spread widely throughout Vietnam, helping to save the lives of more children with congenital heart defects in the future.”

VCF estimates that each year in Vietnam, about 16,000 children are born with congenital heart defects, of which about 7,500 children need surgery. Without timely treatment, thousands of babies will die before they turn 18. Depending on the status of the disease, the cost of heart surgery ranges from 50 to 250 million VND, which is too expensive for poor families in remote rural areas, earning only tens of thousands of VND each day. Thousands of children are still waiting for a miracle to have healthy hearts again. Since 2013, Gamuda Land has constantly made efforts to call on the community to act together to provide the children with living opportunities and also help thousands of families across the country.”

“Run For The Heart 2020” will not be completed without the contribution of more than 30 organizations and business groups such as CBM, Hòa Bình, Ricons, VinaCapital, Fecon South, TW Asia Consultant, Assa Abloy, PDA… as well as so many celebrities who have been accompanying the campaign throughout the years: singer Hà Nhi, singer Phương Vy, KOL Châu Bùi, singer Y Kroc, Miss Ngọc Diễm… Thanks to their kind hearts, the program can be sustained and developed on a bigger scale every year.