RE: On establishing a leukemia fund

[Hai-Tri Le <haitril@microsoft.com>]

Dear friends,

Last night I stopped by my bank and ask them about establishing a trust
account for Phuong Lien. For those outside the US, a trust account is an
account with a specific purpose, such as for the care of Phuong Lien.
This trust account could only be drawn by "the purpose", in this case,
Phuong Lien and the administrator, or trustee, of the account, to be
used solely for the stated purpose. For example, Phuong Lien or the
trustee could write a check to pay for airline tickets or to pay the
doctor, but could not write a check to pay for clothing or gift. I
thought this is really tight control and could satisfy our requirements
for transparency.

One major drawback: if I or one of the admins establish the account, it
would not be a recognized non-profit organization. The money contributed
to this account would not be tax deductible.

To setup a non-profit organization, we need to make an application to
the state and await approval. This will take time.

As such, I really like AnHai's idea. Since, I assume, US-VN Committee is
already a non-profit organization, we won't have to go through the
application process again. Also, since it's a non-profit organization,
it will be eligible for company matching fund for those of us working in
the private sector. If we can get Dr. Judith Ladinsky's assistant, Ms.
Nancy Volk, to help with this effort, it is a 15min process to open an
account. We can also use it for different purposes, instead of just for
one case. As you have seen the other mail from AnHai, there will be more
and more such situations. 

This is an urgent undertaking. There is no time to waste. In
communications with ba'c TvHai of VND, I understand that Phuong Lien's
condition has taken a turn for the worse. Her parents, shocked and
exhausted, have also fallen ill. We need to do something, QUICK.

Also, those of you inside Vietnam, please contact the newspapers and see
if they will establish an account to solicit contributions to this
cause. I have some contacts in the press in HCM City. If one of you
would agree to be the contact point, I can put you in touch with them.
Vietnamese newspapers such as Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre, Cong An regularly
have fund raising activities for charities. This is also a chance to
show that eventhough we are half way across the world, our hearts are
never far from home.

Contribution is relatively simple. You could write a check to be
deposited to the account (I propose "VNSA Foundation") in your country's
currency, the bank will then convert it to U.S. dollars and deduct the
appropriate fee. Or you can purchase an international money order
payable to the account and send it direct. This way, the account is not
charged with the transaction fee.

I also agree with anh DiemQuynh about the point that one of the admins
should be the administrator of the account. 

A little summary of what we have been doing: 
*	One hospital, specialised in care for children with cancer,
agreed to take on the case on a free-care basis. Unfortunately, after
reviewing the medical records, it refused on the grounds that Lien has
been extensively treated with cancer-fighting drugs and initially showed
good progress. If now her condition is getting worse, it means that the
cancer cells have developed resistance to the drugs and will be very
hard to treat and will cost a lot more than they are prepared to provide
on a free-care basis.
*	This hospital then recommend another hospital, also specialised
in care for children with cancer. In talking with them the last couple
days, they could accept a patient on a sliding scale basis. It will not
be 100% free, but close. We have sent them Phuong Lien's medical records
and are awaiting a review. I will keep you posted.
*	In all, we have worked with a total of 5 hospitals, not
including those on anh DiemQuynh side. We are going with the most
promising first and will "attack" the less promising later.

I am keeping a list of all the people who has pledged. If the admins can
arrange for the speedy establishment of the account, you will be
contacted for contributions :-).

Sorry for the long message. I hope to have your support.

Ti`nh tha^n,
Hai-Tri Le