U.S. MasterChef Season 3 champion Christine Ha, a visually impaired home cook of Vietnamese origin, and numerous local artists joined hands to support the country’s disadvantaged youth at a charitable auction gala held last week in Ho Chi Minh City.
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Despite the heavy rain on the afternoon of July 5, Ha, along with a number of local artists including model Truong Ngoc Anh, singer Thanh Bui and Miss Ethnic Vietnam Trieu Thi Ha, attended the “Taste the Story” charitable auction gala at the Park Hyatt Hotel in District 1.
The event, which was organized by the non-profit KOTO, or Know One Teach One, was organized to raise funds to build a vocational training school to teach hospitality skills and English to disadvantaged youth in the southern city. It was also an opportunity for guests to try Christine Ha’s new dishes.
“Besides introducing Ha’s new recipes, we also hope to raise start-up funds for our school and to ignite the flame of the social enterprise movement,” said Jimmy Pham, KOTO founder and CEO.
In addition to the performances by such Vietnamese artists as singers Thanh Bui and Phuong Thanh and students from the HCMC-based music school Soul Academy, the night also featured an auction of several items including Miss Universe Vietnam Truong Thi May’s watch worth US$16,000 and an “ao dai” (Vietnamese traditional gown) of Miss Ethnic Vietnam Trieu Thi Ha which sold for $1,200.
Explaining the reason for her participation in the event, 34-year-old Christine Ha said she wants to give back to the community and to show the world that disadvantaged youth can achieve great things as long as they do not give up.
The event also received the support from outstanding KOTO graduates, including Dang Thi Huong and Nguyen Thi Thao, who were both disadvantaged young people at the time they entered KOTO.
While Thao is currently general manager of the Hanoi-based Pots ‘n Pans restaurant, Huong was named “Victorian International Student of the Year” by the Governor of the Australian state of Victoria Alex Chernov and also presented with the “Premier’s Award – International Student of the Year” from Premier of Victoria Dr. Denis Napthine in November 2013. This year, she has recently become the International Student Ambassador for the Victorian Government.
Christine Ha, an American Chef and writer, is the first blind contestant in the history of U.S. MasterChef and was crowned champion of the reality show’sthird season thanks to her Southeast Asian three-course meal.
Besides a $250,000 grand prize, Ha also won a cookbook deal that allowed her to publish her first work, “Recipes from My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food,” which later became a New York Times bestseller.
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MasterChef winner Christine Ha helps raise money for Vietnam disadvantaged youth Releated Image(s)
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