FRIENDS

OF VSO

We have been busy this Summer . Check out our

October Newsletter.

We have raised over $80,000 with our 2019 challenge fund .. we have $8,000 to meet our goal of $88,000 .... can you help us round up to make it an even $100,000 by the end of the year ?
Read the remarkable history of VS2 and Sister Madelena
Read the wonderful letters from Y Bach and Y Yean, two of our recent college graduates wha are sending each of you a thank you.
Read about the improved water system at VS4

We work hard to make sure your donations work as efficiently as possible. Thanks so much for your continued support.

Check out our new video that tells the story of our Legacy Fund

The kids are back in school now and your donations have been most meaningful.

$ 4.00 Textbook rental

$ 20.00 Uniforms and athletic clothes

$ 5.00 Shoes

$ 8.00 School bags with supplies

With an increased focus on education the letters from Y Bach and Y Yean show us what is possible.

Through out the last few years we have also added some videos .. check out the "media tab" Check out the wonderful musical thank you to FVSO by Y Luin, one of our college scholarship students. You Raise Me Up

Remember in your donations you can specify where you would like your funds to be used:

General Funds are used for Basic Needs, Health care

and primary education

Education Funds are used to support continuing education for college, trade school, or

apprenticeship programs

Legacy Funds will be saved and invested to be

distributed at that time when we are no longer

able to be as active as we are today.

Clyde Lewandowski

Personal Experiences and Reflections of Vinh Son Montagnards Orphanage

Since 1968, when I spent some time in Vietnam, I've had a soft spot in my heart for Vietnamese kids. Of course, in 1968 we soldiers were all kids. Over the years, I've become the unofficial historian for the artillery battalion that I served with. Back then we did what we could to help the kids and connected with the orphanages that were near our headquarters area. In 2002, after doing some research at the National Archives in Washington D.C., I was able to find the name and address of one of the orphanages in Hue that we had supported and began a quest to find it. Unfortunately that orphanage had closed many years ago.

In 2006, I still had not found a connection to an orphanage in Vietnam that felt right, and was fortunate to have been found by Dennis Coyne and Friends of VSO. The trip to the orphanage at Kontum in February 2007 sealed my fate. The kids, the caregivers and sisters are absolutely the most wonderful people I have ever met. Just seeing their happiness brought tears of joy and I was hooked for life.