Hundreds of athletes, artists, and local residents participated in a charity run in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday morning to mark the 15th anniversary of the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper-backed Thuy’s Dream Foundation for children with cancer.

The Sunflower Run, organized by Tuoi Tre, the Vietnam Youth Union in Ho Chi Minh City, and the Students Assistance Center, kicked off at the Vinhomes Central Park in Binh Thanh District at 7:00 am on Sunday.

The event attracted hundreds of athletes, artists, and local residents.

Aside from the offline race, an online run as part of the event will also take place from May 22 to June 22.

For each of the first 5,000 participants who sign up for the online race, Tam An General Hospital will donate VND100,000 (US$4.3) to the fund for children with cancer.

Participants can register for either the five-kilometer, 15-kilometer, 21-kilometer, 42-kilometer, or 100-kilometer marathon via irace.vn/races/duong-dua-hoa-mat-troi.

After completing the registered marathon, participants will be rewarded with an electronic certificate and electronic medal.

Members of the Vietnamese national under-23 football team has symbolically taken part in the marathon by signing on a ball.

The ball will be sold in an upcoming auction, and the proceeds will be added to the fund for children with cancer.

A series of activates will be organized by Tuoi Tre and the Vietnam Youth Union in Ho Chi Minh City until September to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Thuy’s Dream Foundation.

The Thuy’s Dream Foundation was set up by Tuoi Tre to support children with cancer as well as to honor Le Thanh Thuy, a high school girl famous for her long fight against bone cancer prior to her surrender on November 2, 2007.

More than VND49.5 billion ($2.1 million) has been fundraised thanks to events related to the foundation in the past 15 years.

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