Local News in Brief : Irvine : $9,000 Raised to Help Boat People in Camps
A group of Vietnamese students at UC Irvine has raised about $9,000 to help Vietnamese boat people living in overseas refugee camps.
“We’ve joined groups worldwide who hope to end this great tragedy,” said Son Ton, a senior political science major and treasurer of the Vietnamese Students Assn.
Money raised from a variety show that featured students and professional Vietnamese performers will be distributed to several groups, including Medecins du Monde, a French medical-relief charity, and the Boat People SOS Committee, a San Diego-based Vietnamese organization with chapters throughout the United States.
Both groups aid Vietnamese in refugee camps and pay for the operation of a hospital ship that rescues boat people from the high seas.
Donations will also be sent to the Duong Song newspaper in Santa Ana, which is distributed monthly in refugee camps, and to the Pearl Project at UCI, a Vietnamese student organization that sends books and provides tutors to refugee camps.
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