A campaign held as part of a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper-backed annual charity event for children with cancer has been extended by one week, after the main festive day scheduled for Sunday was put off due to bad weather in Ho Chi Minh City.

The campaign, “Toi dong hanh,” literally translated as “I accompany,” will run until December 2 instead of November 25 as earlier planned.

The fundraising program is among a series of activities of this year’s Sunflower Festival, which is held annually by Tuoi Tre to commemorate the death of Le Thanh Thuy, a high school girl famous for her long fight against bone cancer prior to her death on November 2, 2007.

The Sunflower Festival, now in its 11th edition, also promotes the work of “Thuy’s Dream Foundation,” set up by Tuoi Tre to support children with cancer.

The opening ceremony of the 11th Sunflower Festival was initially scheduled to take place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, but the event in the southern metropolis was postponed to December 2 due to torrential rains caused by tropical storm Usagi from Saturday evening.

The campaign “Toi dong hanh” will also continue to accept entrants by the new deadline.

A participant draws a sunflower painting in response to the “Toi dong hanh” campaign. Photo: Tuoi Tre

To participate in the campaign, entrants can draw or make paper sunflowers with messages of wishes for children with cancer written on the works, before uploading the photos of them on Facebook with the hashtags #ngayhoihoahuongduong2018 and #uocnguyenhong2018 and tagging three Facebook friends.

Each of these entries will mean VND30,000 (US$1.3) in support for children with cancer.

As of the end of Sunday, the program has raised VND100 million ($4,300) after attracting nearly 3,500 flowers drawn in response to the campaign.

The sponsor, Alipas Platinum brand by Eco Pharmaceutical Company, will donate this amount to realize the wishes of little cancer patients in hospitals in the northern region.

In addition, entrants of the 30 best sunflowers with the beautiful wishes will receive a gift from the organizers.

While the event in Ho Chi Minh City was postponed, the Sunflower Festival was successfully held in Hanoi on Sunday, bringing joy and hope to child patients at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion.

An entry of a sunflower painting in the “Toi dong hanh” campaign is seen in this photo. Photo: Tuoi Tre

An entry of a sunflower painting in the “Toi dong hanh” campaign is seen in this photo. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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