"Giving while living"
Billionaire Charles Francis "Chuck" Feeney was born in 1931 in Elizabeth (New Jersey, USA) into a working-class Irish-American family. He graduated from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University (USA) and was also the first person in his family to go to university.
He built most of his fortune as co-founder of Duty-Free Shoppers (DFS), which was established in 1960. In 1996, he sold his stake in DFS to France's LVMH Group.
Feeney originated the "Giving While Living" philosophy. “I see no reason to delay giving. Furthermore, giving while you are living will be much more interesting than when you have passed away," said the billionaire.
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| Billionaire Chuck Feeney lives in a rented apartment in San Francisco, USA. (Photo: Atlantic Philanthropies) |
Chuck Feeney founded the Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) in 1982 and secretly transferred all of his business assets to AP two years later. The organization has made grants, many of them anonymous, across continents to support education, health care, human rights protection, and many other causes for people around the world. In 2020, the Fund closed after announcing it had used up all USD 8 billion - Chuck Feeney's donated amount to the exact purpose set by the billionaire.
A kindhearted friend of Vietnam
AP has supported activities in Vietnam since 1998. Initially a sponsor for the East Meets West Foundation (EMWF/USA), AP then built a long-term operating plan and set up an office in Vietnam in 2001. Until 2013, AP sent a total of about USD 380 million USD to projects in Vietnam.
AP sponsored projects in Vietnam focus mainly on the health sector (building medical infrastructure, donating equipment, holing training to improve the capacity of health sector staff, sponsoring research activities), education (building RMIT University, building learning resource centers for many Vietnamese universities, providing scholarships for Vietnamese graduate students to pursue master's and doctoral degrees in Australia).
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| Chuck Feeney and his wife during a visit to Hope Children's Village in Da Nang. (Document photo) |
During its operation in Vietnam, AP was always the foreign NGO with the largest disbursement value (about USD 20-30 million/ year). AP's funding has significantly improved primary healthcare conditions in beneficiary localities, contributing to improving the capacity of medical staff and supporting research and administrative development.
Since 2013, AP stopped establishing new commitments to Vietnam, only maintaining operations to complete ongoing projects. AP officially ended its operations in Vietnam in 2016.
Billionaire Feeney's journey to support Vietnam does not stop at financial contributions but also includes visits to hospitals and schools to personally inspect and support infrastructure improvement projects in health and education institutions. He also called on the US Government to support Vietnam in national recovery and development after the war.
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| Billionaire Chuck Feeney visits a hospital in Vietnam. (Photo: Atlantic Philanthropies) |
“The James Bond of Philanthropy”
Those who had a chance to visit billionaire Chuck Feeney's "property" describe his and his wife's living space "as simple as a student dormitory room." The interior is plain, the living room only has a wooden table to receive guests and a few family photos hanging on the wall. On the table lies a small medal saying: "Congratulations to Chuck Feeney for donating USD 8 billion."
Forbes refers to Chuck Feeney as "the James Bond of philanthropy" for giving away his assets in secret, without any fanfare.
In 2011, he was the 59th person to sign the "Giving Pledge" - a commitment initiated by Bill Gates, his wife Melinda, and Warren Buffett, to encourage the America wealthy individuals to donate their wealth to charity.
Chuck Feeney gives special advice to the wealthy: Do what you can, before you leave this planet, to leave it a better place with better prospects for those who come later.
| On October 13, President of the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations Phan Anh Son sent a letter of condolences to Chuck Feeney's family. The letter reads: "Chuck Feeney was such a kind-hearted man that brought better life to millions of people around the world. More than 15 years of engagement of Chuck and Atlantic Philanthropies in Vietnam have helped improve significantly our country's health care and education systems. Many beneficiaries of Atlantic's Vietnam programs/projects in Vietnam, inspired by their gratefulness for Chuck and his philosophy "Give while Living", are now doing their best to follow in Chuck's footsteps by contributing, both financially and technically, to serve and support the disadvantaged communities. Chuck was so loved and will be missed by many." |
Q.Hoa t.h / Vietnamtimes
