“Retirees” Find New Mission in DOVE Fund

Roland and Celeste Southard’s Retirement Plans

So, what do you plan to do after you retire? It’s a question we’ve heard a lot in the past few years. Being newly retired (2011 and 2013) we are still being asked how we spend our time.

Retirement “time” should NOT to be taken lightly. We both knew we wanted to “volunteer” our time to worthy causes that would allow us to be together, since our careers had kept us apart due to global travel for over 25 years (some years over 100 days apart).

We had attended fund raisers and thought about getting involved with many different non-profit organizations prior to retirement, but we were drawn to The D.O.V.E. Fund (Development of Vietnam Endeavors). Having attended their annual fundraiser for over 10 years, we were impressed with the focus on education, rebuilding and improving one of the poorest locations in the world. We became board members in the summer of 2012 and well, let’s just say, the rest is history. We found a new family in the Veterans and fellow Trustees who care greatly about making a difference in the future of the children of Vietnam.

dove fund

Our “retirement” is now full of new and exciting challenges, including roles as:

fundraiser
webmaster
scholarship coordinator
photographer/videographer
presentation guru
vocalist
secretary
bandage brigade drop site
ambassadors

We recently returned from a 3 week trip to Vietnam, reviewing D.O.V.E. Fund projects and traveling together. We found Vietnam to be a beautiful country with beautiful people who welcomed us with open arms. Like all of us; they want the future for their children to be better than the life that they have.

Some 30 years after the war in Vietnam, its people are still in a poverty-stricken state and in dire need of outside help from somewhere, anywhere. The hope was that American veterans of that war might find it in their hearts to lend financial and developmental assistance to these people who desperately needed a helping hand. Since its founding in Toledo, Ohio in the year 2000, The D.O.V.E. Fund has raised over $2.5 million which has gone directly to projects to help lift the Vietnamese out of poverty.

Since its founding, The D.O.V.E. Fund has built over 50 schools, including 13 daycare centers, three medical clinics, five major water projects, conducted medical and dental missions, implemented an Emergency Medicine Residency Program and provided micro-finance programs for the poorest women in the Quang Tri Province. In addition, The D.O.V.E. Fund has also provided tuition assistance to more than 500 children, conducted workshops for English teachers, purchased computers, industrial sewing machines and other equipment for the various schools they have built. They have provided Braille computers and a Braille printer for the Hue School for the Blind and funded two computer centers for high schools.

We could go on and on. This mission is impacting the Vietnamese and it is without a doubt impacting us as well.

Perhaps the DOVE Fund is a mission you would like to be part of in some way. Maybe learning about this initiative and hearing our story will inspire you to find your mission. Either way, we offer you this: