Chanta Bob hugs Chi Nguyen, 11, after she and her Lincoln Elementary School teacher, Shani rae Erickson, collected over $1,700 for Hearts without Boundaries. The pair presented Davik Teng a check for $1729.27 at Sophy's Restaurant in Long Beach on Wednesday, but donations are still coming in.(Jeff Gritchen/Staff Photographer)CHARITY: Student at Lincoln Elementary leads fundraising effort for Cambodian girl.
By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
03/19/2008
Press Telegram.com
LONG BEACH - The oversized check, said $1,729.27. But that wasn't right. It was $1,734.27. No, wait, $1,754.27. No, wait ...
The truth is, the donations are still coming from Lincoln Elementary School to Davik Teng, a 9-year-old from a rural village in Cambodia who is facing open-heart surgery.
And it was all kicked off by Chi Nguyen, a fifth-grader who saw a poster about Davik's plight and raised $50 doing extra chores and collecting her Tet, or Vietnamese New Year, money.
On Wednesday at Sophy's Restaurant, Davik and her mother, Sin Chhon, were presented with the symbolic check, as well as dozens of get-well cards created by the kids at Lincoln.
"And we're not done yet," said Shani rae Erickson, Nguyen's teacher, who presented the gifts.
Nguyen didn't initially tell anyone about her donation, but when the news reached Erickson, the onslaught began.
Erickson not only pledged to match Nguyen's donation, but rallied the school to the cause. And Lincoln answered.
"This has brought our whole school together," Erickson said of the fundraising effort. "All year long we've been talking to the kids about caring and respect. And Chi, instead of telling us about it, just went out and did something."
Nguyen, an 11-year-old who has suffered from leukemia that is now in remission, saw a poster about Davik, who has a heart defect that doctors in Cambodia were unable to repair. Davik has been brought to the U.S. by a small, local nonprofit and is scheduled to have the operation at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles on Monday.
Nguyen talked to Peter Chhun, president of Hearts Without Boundaries, which sponsors Davik, and marshalled her meager resources to do what she could to help.
Erickson learned of the gesture from a reporter and took it to the next level.
Although most students at Lincoln live in the struggling Central Area, they responded with enthusiasm, with parents writing checks and students literally passing around a hat to collect spare change.
"It's been for us the best journey ever," said Erickson. "It has united students, teachers, everyone. It's one of the highest moments ever in teaching for me."
The emotion has carried to Nguyen as well.
"It made me feel happy," she said of the response. "And for some reason my face keeps smiling. It's like someone pinched my face to keep my lips up."
One anonymous donor not only gave $50 for Davik, but gave another $50 to reimburse Nguyen for her donation.
When asked what she'd do with the money, Nguyen said she'd spend it on a gift for her older brother, who she is about to visit in Vietnam.
When Nguyen made her first donation, some remarked that it might help bring the Vietnamese and Cambodian communities closer together. But Erickson said it could be something bigger.
"It's more than just the Vietnamese and Cambodian cultures, the whole human culture has come out," she said.
By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
03/19/2008
Press Telegram.com
LONG BEACH - The oversized check, said $1,729.27. But that wasn't right. It was $1,734.27. No, wait, $1,754.27. No, wait ...
The truth is, the donations are still coming from Lincoln Elementary School to Davik Teng, a 9-year-old from a rural village in Cambodia who is facing open-heart surgery.
And it was all kicked off by Chi Nguyen, a fifth-grader who saw a poster about Davik's plight and raised $50 doing extra chores and collecting her Tet, or Vietnamese New Year, money.
On Wednesday at Sophy's Restaurant, Davik and her mother, Sin Chhon, were presented with the symbolic check, as well as dozens of get-well cards created by the kids at Lincoln.
"And we're not done yet," said Shani rae Erickson, Nguyen's teacher, who presented the gifts.
Nguyen didn't initially tell anyone about her donation, but when the news reached Erickson, the onslaught began.
Erickson not only pledged to match Nguyen's donation, but rallied the school to the cause. And Lincoln answered.
"This has brought our whole school together," Erickson said of the fundraising effort. "All year long we've been talking to the kids about caring and respect. And Chi, instead of telling us about it, just went out and did something."
Nguyen, an 11-year-old who has suffered from leukemia that is now in remission, saw a poster about Davik, who has a heart defect that doctors in Cambodia were unable to repair. Davik has been brought to the U.S. by a small, local nonprofit and is scheduled to have the operation at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles on Monday.
Nguyen talked to Peter Chhun, president of Hearts Without Boundaries, which sponsors Davik, and marshalled her meager resources to do what she could to help.
Erickson learned of the gesture from a reporter and took it to the next level.
Although most students at Lincoln live in the struggling Central Area, they responded with enthusiasm, with parents writing checks and students literally passing around a hat to collect spare change.
"It's been for us the best journey ever," said Erickson. "It has united students, teachers, everyone. It's one of the highest moments ever in teaching for me."
The emotion has carried to Nguyen as well.
"It made me feel happy," she said of the response. "And for some reason my face keeps smiling. It's like someone pinched my face to keep my lips up."
One anonymous donor not only gave $50 for Davik, but gave another $50 to reimburse Nguyen for her donation.
When asked what she'd do with the money, Nguyen said she'd spend it on a gift for her older brother, who she is about to visit in Vietnam.
When Nguyen made her first donation, some remarked that it might help bring the Vietnamese and Cambodian communities closer together. But Erickson said it could be something bigger.
"It's more than just the Vietnamese and Cambodian cultures, the whole human culture has come out," she said.
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