PORT TOWNSEND — Five area residents, including two veterans, hope to help out orphaned and disabled children in Vietnam in February.
David Goldsmith, John and Donna Doney, Sally Gooding and her daughter, Casey, will travel to Quang Tri province, where a non-profit humanitarian agency called Kids First runs a vocational and training village.
The five are members of or have ties to local Rotary Clubs, which have made donations to the agency.
On Feb. 28, as part of a two-week trip, they’ll help officials and residents dedicate a rehabilitation village in the town of Dong Ha.
They’ll also spend a couple days working around the village.
“It’s a chance to see how our money is spent,” said Goldsmith, Jefferson County administrator and a Vietnam veteran.
There’s an emotional side, Goldsmith added, noting he hopes the trip will help heal the wounds still left from the war.
According to the agency, the province was one of the most intense battlefields in the Vietnam war. It’s still affected today because of unexploded ordinance, landmines and dioxin chemicals like Agent Orange.
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