Narrow The Gap - Crossed paths for social impacts

Because of the support from our friends like you, we were able to hold a successful Narrow the Gap Community Day on 23rd September 2018 and award grants to three winning local community projects to make positive changes in South Vietnam.

More than 290 participants including non-profits, skilled volunteers and the business community, media representatives came to network, share, learn and vote at Community Day.

Thanks to our financial and in-kind sponsors who helped make the day a success. Participants enjoyed a Lucky Draw with raffle prizes from local businesses. National and local media came to report on the event, including two national television channels, HTV and VTV (See the VTV video here).

We kicked off the event with a Community Day showcase, complete with stalls for all organizations involved from non-profit and business sectors. Participants played traditional games and took an up-close look at the work of the finalists. The second half of Community Day was dedicated to the pitches and the votes. All six finalists took to the stage one by one to pitch their project to the audience of voters.

The vote was cast:

• 50% Grant Allocation Committee (made up of skilled volunteers with community project experience)
• 20% Online voting before the event
• 30% Community vote from the participants present at the even

Three of the six finalists were voted as the winners of the Narrow The Gap Community Fund and each has been awarded 150 million VND, to carry out their impacting work in the community.

The three winning projects were:

1. Medical Insurance for HIV Patients
2. Hospital Theater
3. Gieo Duyen Bridges

To view the three project profiles, click here.

Although there could only be three winners, all six finalists had a chance to create awareness about their project and connect with potential partnerships and resource opportunities.

There were special moments on the day such as: one of the finalists which did not win a grant pitched the project of seeking to expand their organization to involve IT training and resources for ethnic Cham women starting small businesses had a spontaneous offer of donated computers from a member of the audience.

All six finalists were awarded certificates and the three winners were presented an award check to signify their success at winning the grant.

Thanks for your continued connection with and support of LIN Center and Narrow The Gap! Together we can empower local non-profits to improve the quality of life for the most vulnerable in their communities.

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We are still continuing the campaign and to date we have rasied nearly a half of our $10,000 goal. Please consider telling your friends and family about our project - share the link on your blogs or social networks, use the tell-a-friend feature on the project page to email your network, or just bring us up in conversation. You know your friends and family best, so use your own words - tell them why you chose our project and what it means to you.

Your donations really do help narrow the gap, impacting on thousands of lives each year. Whatever the size of your contribution, $10 or $100, your support directly and indirectly changes the lives of individuals in local communities of Vietnam.

Together we build a strong community!

Links:

• Photos from Narrow The Gap Community Day