"Swing for Life 2004" Golf Contest Tees Up

"Swing for Life 2004" Golf Contest Tees Up

To mark the occasion of Vietnam’s National Day, the Saigon Golf Club, in cooperation with the Vietnam Golf Club and the Ho Chi Minh City Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients, will hold the fifth traditional charity golf contest called "Swing for life 2004" on September 2, 2004 in Ho Chi Minh City to raise funds of US$70,000 for eye surgeries for over 1,000 children.

Aquafina under the Pepsi Co. is the major sponsor with more than US$20,000. Other special sponsors include Crow Beverage Cans Saigon, Norfolk and the Vietnam Golf Club with over US$5,000 each. Co-sponsors include Saigontourist, Carevelle Hotel, and Techcombank.

The annual golf contest has been welcomed by benefactors and the money raised from the four previous events reached more than US$200,000, which was managed by the Red Cross Association and the Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients of the city. The money was used to buy three vehicles to collect blood donations and eye surgeries for 1,000 poor and blind children.

Vietnam now has about 600,000 blind people, including 350,000 with cataracts. The Ho Chi Minh City Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients has helped patients in 13 provinces and cities escape blindness to date, and plans to include an additional seven provinces and cities by the end of 2004.

• C.L