About Catherine Tran Charity Fund
Catherinet Tran Charity Fund: Formation, Operation and Acknowledgements
The Catherine Tran Charity Fund was formed at the time of Catherine Tran’s funeral. Catherine’s sudden passing occurred on Nov 12, 2009. During her short time with us, Catherine had dedicated her life to helping others who were less fortunate than her. This concern for others was at the core of Catherine’s beliefs. Knowing that Catherine would want her work to continue, family members and friends quickly established a charity in her name. The Catherine Tran Charity Fund was created under the format of a community trust group.
The first charitable donation, over two thousand dollars, was collected from Catherine’s own savings. This amount comprised money saved from Catherine’s birthday and holiday gifts as well as her allowance. Catherine would save her money in her plastic piggy bank that she brought back from her first trip to Vietnam. In addition to Catherine’s savings, other donation were added from families and friends who attended her funeral. The steady stream of donations has never stopped.
Some of Catherine’s classmates had known her from a very young age, having met her in the elementary school playground. While still mourning the sudden lost of their beloved friend, they formed a group of volunteers, working together to raise money for Catherine’s charity. The group was officially named the ‘Catherine Tran Charity Team’. The team contributed everything – their time, their money, their spirit. They helped achieve many good deeds both in Canada as well as in other places around the world, including flood relief in Pakistan, earthquake relief in Haiti and numerous humanitarian projects in Vietnam. The inaugural fund raising dinner for the Catherine Tran Charity Fund was held on Sept 26, 2010. It was an extremely successful event and brought together over 300 of Catherine’s supporters. The evening relied heavily on the entire Catherine Tran Charity Team. Our deeply heartfelt thanks go to Alice, Victoria, Khalid, Vituni, Devyesh, Minh, Kevin, Kenneth, Dennis, Ryan, Billy, Kenny, Catherine K, Malina, Michelle, Chi Lan, Christine, Anthony, and others for their wonderful devotion.
The Catherine Tran Charity Fund has been very fortunate to receive so much help from so many different sources. Family members, friends, corporations, organizations, schools and individual volunteers from Canada, the United States and Vietnam have all generously contributed their time and money. The new concrete pedestrian bridges, the numerous fresh water wells with pumps, bicycles, hats, toys, gifts and more would not exist without the help provided by so many volunteers. From site surveys to ‘best price’ research, volunteers coordinated and performed all the work needed to accomplish our goal to date.
A special acknowledgment of individual volunteers
In Viet Nam:
Ms. Anh Tuyet has lived in Ca Mau for many years. Ms. Tuyet was the primary project coordinator for all of the projects, large and small, in Ca Mau. Without her relentless work, our efforts would not have been so wonderfully successful.
Catherine’s uncle and aunt, Mr. Tuan Tran and Mrs. Nga Nguyen live in Saigon. Tuan and Nga are our essential coordinators for all our orphanage missions in Saigon, Ca Mau, Hue, among others. Tuan and Nga have successfully organized, purchased and delivered our gifts to various orphanages and were our official representatives at the bridge opening ceremonies in Ca Mau.
In the United States:
Ms. Viet Ly lives in Houston, Texas. In arranging everything from site survey to quality assurance, Ms. Ly has flown back and forth from Houston to Saigon ensuring the successful completion of our projects. Ms. Viet Ly is also a memember of the Vietnamese Culture and Science Association (VCSA) of Houston, Texas.
The Charity also gratefully acknowledges the support and encouragement from Ms. Viet Ly’s husband, Dr. Duy of the American Navy.
Catherine’s aunt, Anhlan, also lives in Houston. Although living far from Toronto, aunty AnhLan has been intimately involved since the charity was formed. More than anyone, AnhLan has created the international network of volunteers and orchestrated the necessary connections between volunteers. AnhLan has helped organize many past events and has also planned for future activities. She has flown to Toronto to join us for various events including raising funds for the charity. Her husband, Mr. Duy Truong, has helped the charity to translate documents from Vietnamese into English and he has also joined the team at fund raising events in Toronto.
Mr. Tung Trieu Tran lives in Houton, Texas and is a memeber of VCSA (Houston). Tung took charge of building the initial Catherine Tran website. Living in Anaheim, California was Catherine’s uncle-in-law, Quoc Hoang Tran. Together, Tung and Quoc Hoang completed this website in less than one month following Catherine’s funeral. Since then, the web site has been under the care of Catherine’s mother – Thuy Huong (Helen) and Catherine’s sister, Elizabeth – Phuong Minh.
Looking in the future:
After our first family trip back to Vietnam, we decided to set up an unnamed fund in order to help out some of the less fortunate people living in Vietnam. We have continued to do so on a monthly basis for the past 7 years. Recently, we have decided to combine this fund with the Catherine Tran Charity Fund. In Catherine’s memory and with her spirit to guide us, we promise to ensure that every penny donated to the Catherine Tran Charity Fund will be honourably discharged.
The Charity has just been approved as a non profit corporation under the province of Ontario. Corp. number: 1827911. The official name is the Catherine Tran Humanitarian Relief and Youth/Community Support Group Inc. (C.T.H.R.Y.C.S.G.)
Please vistit the website and refer other interested donors to it:
www.catherinetrancharityfund.org
or email CatherineTranCharityFund@yahoo.com or contact her parents at Simon Tran or Huong Nguyen at 416-722-3677
edited by John Tough
Catherine Trần Sĩ Thùy Minh Charity Fund
In the honor of Catherine Tran, who passed away on November 12, 2009, her family and friends decided to establish the Catherine Tran Si Thuy Minh Charity Fund to deliver charity works that support needy, poor and disabled children/people in Vietnam, Canada and from around the world.
Catherine Tran was born on July 31, 1993 to Mr. Si Minh Tran and Mrs. Thuy Huong Phuc Nguyen in Toronto, Canada. She grew up in a family surrounded and loved by both her parents’ families. They are nurtured in Buddhist teachings and believe in philanthropic works to help unfortunate people. Her compassion toward less fortunate people was nurtured and enriched by her family. She has shown strong interest in helping needy children at the age of nine. When she was 9 years old, after a trip back to Vietnam visiting the orphanages and seeing with her own eyes the handicapped and disabled children, Catherine felt empathy with those who are less fortunate than herself. It was also the first time she asked her father’s permission to donate the money she received from the winning piano contests from her school to buy school supply for needy students.
Catherine Tran was an excellent straight-A Junior (grade 11) at Woodbridge Collegiate Institute, She did not excel ONLY in her academics , but was a well rounded young lady with multi talents. She excelled in sport (badminton, hockey and swimming) and was also a talented young pianist who won several piano competitions. Catherine Tran was a thoughtful and very caring person who always thought of other people before herself. She’s well loved by her sister, classmates, cousins and families for her kindness and tender care toward others at such a young age. Unfortunately, the tragic accident on November 12th has taken away her life from this earth. Her parents and families would like to transform this tremendous sudden loss into something positive by creating this Charity Fund in honor of Catherine Tran and to assist Catherine to fulfill her unfinished wishes. Her family and friends believe, that as long as we are able to keep this charity alive, we are keeping her spirit with us always as well.
For more information about the Fund, please visit the web site www.catherinetrancharityfund.org
or email CatherineTranCharityFund@yahoo.com or contact her parents at Simon Tran or Huong Nguyen at 416-722-3677
