Never a better time to bankroll dreams

This year’s iteration of Swing for the Kids welcomed some 155 golfers and sponsors, ,photo Chi Cuong

Over the past 14 years, Swing for the Kids become a familiar gathering place for compassionate individuals and businesses, collecting resources for tens of thousands of disadvantaged students – especially children from ethnic minorities in remote mountainous or island areas across all parts of the country.

Tournament co-founder Vo Hong Phuc, former Minister of Planning and Investment and honorary president of the event, said at the event gala on November 21 that Swing for the Kids attracts the participation of hundreds of golfers as well as many businesses year by year thanks to its professionalism and deep meaning. Some 155 golfers took part in this year’s edition.

“That success comes from a human focus and organising a professional tournament for investors, domestic and international businesspeople, diplomats, and representatives of international organisations to meet and share ideas about life and work,” Phuc explained.

Dreams come true

On behalf of students, Nguyen Le Huong, a 21-year-old from Hanoi University of Education, was welcomed on stage to receive a scholarship worth VND10 million ($435) from Swing for the Kids fund. This is the third time Huong has received a scholarship through the event. Huong said, “Each of us came from extraordinary walks of life, adapting with all sorts of battles in everyday life. However we all share the equal burning ambition to obtain proper education, empowering us to pursue the desired path. Thanks to the scholarship, our family’s economic burdens have been lightened and our education route is no longer interrupted.”

Since Swing for the Kids was created, the organising board has mobilised more than VND17.5 billion ($760,000) to provide more than 16,000 scholarships for disadvantaged students, build IT classrooms with new computers, and upgrade numerous schools in over 40 cities and provinces across the country.

Each year, Swing for the Kids witnesses positive results in the lives of students who earned such scholarships across the nation. After graduating, many students have begun successful careers in various fields of works.

Le Trong Minh, head of the organising board and editor-in-chief of Vietnam Investment Review said, “We believe that the warmth from kind hearts and enthusiasm from specific actions will help alleviate hardships for poor students and overcome their education difficulties – especially in terms of teachers and students who have just suffered through historic storms and floods along the central coast in recent weeks.”

At the awards gala, Minh presented representatives of the Vietnam Learning Promotion Fund VND300 million ($13,000) as funding for scholarship programme. The organising board of the tournament decided to reserve at least VND1 billion ($43,500) from this year’s fund for students in the central region, which has been devastated by unprecedented storms and floods. Students’ consequent successes and the smiles on their faces, or indeed tears, when receiving Swing for the Kids scholarships are the reward for organisers and sponsors that have paved the way for such students to realise their dreams, little by little helping create a better country in which fewer young people face hardship.

A bridge for golfers

Like any sport, golf features a strong aspect of competitiveness among participants. However, at the Swing for the Kids charity tournament, the sport is considered more of a bridge connecting people from many localities – operating across many fields, but sharing the same passion for volunteering.

Many sponsors have accompanied Swing for the Kids from the beginning, such as BRG Group, SeABank, Vingroup, and KinderWorld Education. There are also golfers who have taken part over many years, and who have decided to contribute further as sponsors and supporters, with an understanding of the social significance and humanitarian meaning.

Alan Young, former managing director of Vinausteel and SSE Steel and also the first Diamond Sponsor of the charity tournament said, “It means a lot that Swing for the Kids always keeps up its meaningful goals and this also emphatically impacts numerous individuals, encouraging sponsors and golfers to continue supporting the tournament. Our partners and I are always excited to get our invites to participate in the tournament.”

As a new sponsor this year, Thai Viet Dung, representative of Exness Vietnam shared, “We believe in giving back to the communities. Exness is honoured to join the organisers to make wings for children in difficult circumstances. We participate in the game not because of prizes, but because of the humanistic meaning to support poor, studious students across the country.”

Meanwhile, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, deputy director of SeABank said at the gala, “The goal is in line with SeABank’s ideals and that was the reason we committed to long-term companionship with Swing for the Kids. I hope the tournament will see even greater success and development in the future.”

SeABank in particular sponsored a Swing for the Kids Scholarship Fund worth VND60 million ($2,600).

Since its founding, Swing for the Kids gathered more than VND17.5 billion ($760,000) for students