An Open Letter to the Overseas Vietnamese

Final Phase of the “Gateway to Freedom” Project in Fairfax, Virginia

In 2010, the Vietnamese Americans Community of the Metropolitan Washington DC, with the assistance of the National Institute of Administration Alumni Association, East Coast USA and the Quang Da Mutual Association, East Coast USA raised more than $48,000 dollars to support the Vietnamese language book section and the building of a brick walkway called “Gateway to Freedom” at the Thomas Jefferson Library in Falls Church, Virginia. The walkway was a gift from the Vietnamese refugees to express their deep gratitude to the residents of Fairfax County, Virginia and the American people who have given Vietnamese refugees a chance to live free again.

Thirty- three founding sponsors contributed a thousand dollars/ each and 300 brick sponsors contributed $50.00/ each to have their names engraved on the wall plaque and the bricks. Both Phase 1 (Vietnamese language section) and Phase 2 (the small walkway), have been completed. The last phase of this project is to complete the walkway with 600 more bricks and to add another 20 founding sponsors to the wall in front of the library. This phase will be launched on September 2, 2014 and we hope Vietnamese in the US and overseas will enthusiastically join in at this time. The project is planned to be completed by April 2015.

On Saturday, May 2, 2015, a special dedication of the Gateway to Freedom project will be held to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Vietnamese settlement in the US.

Fairfax County Library Foundation will serve as the fiscal agent for the project and all donations will be tax-deductible to the extent of the law. At present time, there are over 8000 volumes of Vietnamese languages books in Thomas Jefferson Library and more are coming from individuals and publishers. A committee was set up and headed by Professor Cao Thi Le of George Mason University to receive, review and catalogue donated or purchased books.