Heart fund: Hiểu Về Trái Tim, a fund set up by actor Phạm Gia Chi Bảo to finance heart surgeries for poor children, has set up a website to make donations easier. – VNS File photo

HCM CITY – Hiểu Về Trái Tim (Understanding the Heart) Fund, which funds heart surgeries for children, yesterday launched a social networking website to raise donations.

Phạm Gia Chi Bảo, an actor and the fund’s chairman, speaking about the need for www.hieuvetraitim.com, said the old ways of raising donations through banks, cash, or text messages are inconvenient.

They are time-consuming and put off people who seek to donate small sums, he pointed out.

The website has tied up with three e-wallets Momo, Ngân lượng, and Webmoney to make the donation process easy.

"Many individuals solicit donations to help disadvantaged people, especially on Facebook, but many would-be donors are uncertain if their money would reach the needy," he said.

The fund is audited by KPMG.

The website has a programme called Ngôi nhà trái tim (House of Heart), which offers a forum for charity organisations, companies, the media, artists, and anyone seeking to raise money for charity.

The fund and its partners will certify the purpose and receipt of money by the intended beneficiaries.

“All donations to the fund will be made public,” Bảo said.

The fund’s administrators will begin a trip in August to all 63 cities and provinces to reach out to potential donors.

In 2010-15 the Hiểu Về Trái Tim Fund raised VNĐ33 billion (US$1.47 million) and funded 1,400 heart surgeries for poor children, organised the annual Mid-Autumn Festival for 16,500 children, built 47 ‘gratitude’ houses, sponsored nutrition programmes for 1,700 disadvantaged students in remote areas, and gave scholarships to 105 students. – VNS