Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Thi Huong, member of the newspaper’s editorial board and representative from the organising board, said the festival has received support from businesses and people nationwide.

Before the festival, the organising board launched a blood donation event, visited and presented gifts to children living with cancer in hospitals while hundreds of volunteers collected products to raise funds at the event.

Not only the support of nearly 10,000 people in Ho Chi Minh City, over 314,000 others also joined the programme via writing articles and sharing images of sunflower on the social media, thus contributing over 150 million VND (6,500 USD) to the fund for cancer patients and supporting 300 million VND via a walking event.

Philanthropists nationwide presented more than 7 billion VND to the fund. The organising board granted 77 "Thuy’s Dream” scholarships, each worth 5 million VN, to child cancer patients with outstanding academic performances.

Launched for the first time in 2008, the festival is an important event of the "Thuy’s Dream” programme which has so far received and offered over 34 billion VND to child cancer patients across the country.

Source: VNA