THANK YOU LETTER ON THE ENDING OF THE LENT 2012 APPEAL
Dear CVK-KMF members and benefactors,
Today June 30, we end the Lent 2012 collection campaign.
Thanks to your generous donations during several months of the campaign, we have achieved unprecedented results since the foundation of KMF in 2000. The total amount of this collection campaign is $US 109,818.79. There was a significant number of benefactors who have donated on line via the KMF website: www.helpkontum.org
Many thanks to you, dear friends and benefactors. We are especially grateful to Mr.Phạm Hùng Sơn, Mr.Nguyễn Quang Trung, Mr. Đào Văn Đức, Mr. Trần Lộc and to our dedicated brothers and sisters from San Jose, California, who have collaborated wholeheartedly with KMF for many years.
The collected funds are being used to support the following programs for 2012:
1. Provision Of Healthcare For The Poor: $18,000 (17.50%)
With the generous help of donors, KMF has built a dispensary for the poor in a village near Kontum to provide basic and emergency healthcare to the people living nearby. In addition, the team of doctor and nurses also travels to more remote villages to provide care and medicine to poor people. This year, we have also established a Mobile Pharmacy to provide medicine to other villages with the help of priests and nuns. We need your continued contributions in order to pay for doctors and nurses, medical equipment and medicine. With your help, we will be able to sustain these activities to benefit the poorest of the poor.
2. Support Education For The Young And Poor Children: $49,500 (48%)
It is often said that“Education is the key to the future.” Sadly though, most children in Kontum lack the opportunities that we in industrialized nations often take for granted: the ability to attend formal schooling to gain a necessary education that prepares for employment and self-sustenance. For these children, lack of education translates into a very bleak future. A number of student houses have been established to offer free accommodation and food to poor students so that they can go to school. However, in view of the great number of young people in need and the limited resources, there is still a significant number of young people without a place to stay. KMF is currently supporting seven (7) such student houses. KMF is also funding this year the construction of a new student house in the Dak To area to cater for the needs of the poor students in that remote area.
3. Assist The Lepers: $10,000 (9.75%)
If you have the opportunity to visit a village of lepers in Kontum or Pleiku, you will be touched by the scenes of people suffering from leprosy: people without hands or arms, feet or fingers or with faces disfigured by the disease. In most cases, taking care of themselves is a huge task, even for the simplest gestures such as holding a bowl of rice or a glass of water. Furthermore, they are constantly tortured by the pain and irritations caused by the bacteria.
We need your help to continue to provide needed assistance to the lepers. One can of soda costing US$.50 may help purchase a topical antibiotic ointment, a US $.99 burger may help purchase a pain relief lotion, a US $50 may help build a clean water reservoir and a US $150 may help towards digging a well for a group of families. However small the amount of donation, we will make every effort in making every penny count towards helping these less fortunate but still fellow children of God.
4. Assist The Orphans And The Handicapped: $18,000 (18%)
Due to extremely poor living conditions and lack of basic healthcare, the life expectancy of ethnic people in Kontum diocese is alarmingly short, thus leaving hundreds of children orphaned at an early age and without any resources. With your support and generosity, KMF is assisting two (2) orphanages run by Ya nuns. As they are not very big and are located in very remote areas, they do not receive assistance from other charitable organizations. KMF is also assisting the handicapped in a centre run by nuns. With just US $1 per day, you can make a difference in the life of these unfortunate children and would go a long way to brighten their future.
5. Other Projects: $ 6,400 (6%)
This year KMF has provided a small amount towards the cost of a ceiling for a small church under construction that could not be completed due to lack of funding. On the other hand, KMF has also made a CD of songs performed by Ya sisters of Kontum Diocese as a gift to our benefactors and as a means to raise more funds for KMF. I hope you will like it.
On behalf of our poor brothers and sisters in the Kontum Diocese: the lepers, the orphans, the disabled and sick persons, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to you, dear friends and benefactors. You may want to visit KMF website: www.helpkontum.org for more details on these programs, including our updated reports, news and activities.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). God knows whatever you do and will reward you and your family tenfold. KMF members will always pray for you and your families, and each month our priests will celebrate a special mass for all benefactors.
Best wishes for happy and peaceful summer holidays with plenty of joy.
Roma 30-6-2012
Rev. Joseph Hoàng-Minh-Thắng
KMF President
On behalf of KMF Executive Board
Vietnamese Program Vatican Radio,
Vatican City, 00120 Roma Italia.
Email: palestina2010@gmail.com
Tel. 06-6988-3214 (W). 06-69894505 (H)
