FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – Taking the time to say ‘thank you’ doesn’t any cost money, but the Tran Family believes its value is immeasurable.

Six-year-old Madison Tran and her 4-year-old brother Lincoln Tran are spending an hour each day personalizing thank you cards for frontline health care workers and essential workers like grocers, delivery truck drivers, postal workers, and even zookeepers.

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“They’re protecting our lives and they help us,” says Madison.

The Tran siblings say they like to make the cards colorful and fun, but they do ask their supervisor for help when they need it.

“Sometimes we think and sometimes mommy tells us,” says Lincoln.

Their mom, Dr. Natalie Tran, is a professor at Cal State Fullerton. Despite having her hands full from juggling work from home, teaching her children and raising three kids, Tran felt like her family was in a position to do more and give back to their community. Up until a few weeks ago, she and her kids were walking around their neighborhood to thank health care workers with a message written in chalk on their sidewalk.

“In a time filled with a lot of uncertainty where there is anxiety and fears, people need something positive,” says Dr. Tran, a mother of three and Fountain Valley resident.

Tran reached out to her friends and colleagues in Orange County. One of the first people she reached out to was Tam Nguyen, president of Advance Beauty College in Garden Grove.

“I was commenting on some of the work that he was doing and I thought maybe we can have our kids write a couple thank you cards to add to what he’s doing,” says Tran.

For weeks, Nguyen and business leaders in the Vietnamese community have been raising funds through their organization Nailing It For Health Care Workers to help provide meals, personal protective equipment and other supplies to people in need. With his help and Tran’s circle of friends in the community, they created Cards for Heroes.

It’s a movement where each family can create thank you cards and notes to show essential and health care workers their gratitude. The cards are collected at Advance Beauty College where Nguyen and his team of volunteers pair them with other donations.

Tran says she is overwhelmed by the support her community has given her circle of friends. She believes this pandemic gave her family the opportunity to turn what they’re doing into a lesson for her kids.

“Children in general are very receptive. I think we are in some ways planting those compassionate seeds in our children,” says Tran.

While Madison and Lincoln won’t get to see the reactions to their cards, they say it’s worth it.

 

 

“I think they’ll make them happy,” says Madison.

The mother of three says she wants her two eldest children and their 5-month-old baby brother, Jameson, to know that being compassionate and thankful doesn’t just count during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s something they should do every day. With that, she believes it’s important for parents to lead by example.

Thursday, April 30, marks the 45th anniversary since the Fall of Saigon which prompted Vietnamese refugees to flee their homeland and start new lives in America. Orange County is home to the largest population of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam.

In honor of the solemn event for Vietnamese Americans, members of Nailing It For Health Care Workers want to urge Vietnamese communities throughout the world to do something good for their community. In this case, members of the Vietnamese community which includes Tran and Nguyen, are hopeful other Vietnamese Americans will give back to the country that welcomed them to start their new lives.

Thank you cards can be dropped off at Advance Beauty College which is located on 10121 Westminster Ave., in Garden Grove, CA 92843.

You can donate to Nailing It For Health Care Workers here.