Vietnamese expat Leyna Nguyen meets the people she wants to help in Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province in the central region

Leyna Nguyen dispenses news and generosity in equal measure.

Awards last September, Leyna Nguyen is a kind soul whose charity work spans two homelands.

Nguyen and her director-producer husband Michael Muriano recently ignored the risk of influenza A (H1N1) to travel around Vietnam as official members of the “Footprint of Charity” tour organized by the US-based group Rare Antibody Antigen Supply Inc (RAAS).

Their journey to Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Nam, Hau Giang, Can Tho, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Hue city, Quang Tri and Khanh Hoa came about because of Nguyen’s friendship with RAAS managing director Hoang Kieu.

“I’m here because I admire Mr. Kieu and wanted to find out more about his work. We can help many more people if we are united,” Nguyen said.

During the charity tour, which ended earlier this month, over VND8 billion (US$450,000) was used to finance local philanthropic organizations and sponsor other cultural and social outreach activities.

World beauty queens – Miss World 2008 Ksenia Sukhinova, Miss World 2004 Maria Julia Garcia and Miss Indonesia 2009 Karenina Sunny Halim – also participated in the “Footprint of Charity.”

In 1997, Nguyen founded a non-profit organization called “Love across the Ocean” to benefit underprivileged schools in Vietnam.

“Operating from America, my small fund could help only some handicapped children and sick elderly people,” she said.

“Each time I return to Vietnam I try to help the poor in Dong Ha and Quang Tri with money, presents and rice. I feel that I am fortunate, so I want to help the unfortunate as much as possible.”

Despite the fleeting nature of her latest visit, she found time to present fund-raising concerts in Can Tho City on June 2 and Nha Trang on June 7 to benefit the Vong tay nhan ai (Philanthropic circle) fund and the Central Youth Union’s Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund.

It was at the event in Nha Trang that Nguyen received a calligraphic picture signed by Vietnam’s President Nguyen Minh Triet for her charity acts.

In Quang Tri Province, where she was born in the town of Dong Ha, the provincial People’s Committee presented Nguyen with a certificate signed by President Nguyen Minh Triet and placed her name on Quang Tri’s Roll of Honor.

Breaking portrait

Nguyen moved to the US in 1975, graduated from Webster University with a degree in mass communication, and went on to be crowned “Miss Asia” in 1987.

She landed a job in Augusta, Georgia anchoring the news on CBS-affiliate WRDW-TV then became an anchorwoman and reporter for NBC-affiliate KCRA-TVin Sacramento, California, where she also hosted a quarterly program on Asian-American issues.

In 1997, she started working at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles as a weekend anchor and reporter, thereby becoming the first news anchor on two stations at the same time.

Nguyen was first nominated for an Emmy in 1995 for her report “Vietnam – The Journey Back.”

Her 2008 awards, which she scored two months after giving birth to her second child, were for “Heal the Bay” and her hosting of the Special Olympics Summer Games in 2007, the same year that she hosted the Miss Universe Vietnam pageant.

Nowadays she reports for both KCBS and KCAL in addition to anchoring weekend evening newscasts on KCAL.

Besides her media work, Nguyen is an occasional screen actress with supporting roles in “Paparazzi,” “Duplex,” “Austin Powers, Goldmember,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Price of Glory” to her credit.

For her achievements, Nguyen was named the YWCA Woman of the Year in 1996.

Four years later, she was listed among the 25 most influential Vietnamese-Americans of the past 25 years.

Reported by Vo Khoi