Newsletter
AACI Newsletter January 2011
Welcome to the January 2011 edition of AACI’s newsletter!
Happy New Year! Welcome to AACI’s first e-newsletter of 2011. In this edition, I’m pleased to share with you a downloadable copy of AACI’s Annual Report (2009-2010), a heartwarming story of how community members made it possible for families in our Center for Survivors of Torture and Domestic Violence Programs to have a brighter holiday season, great news about our Asian American Voices project, and upcoming dates for AACI events not to be missed.
Thank You,
Michele Lew
TOPOur Community Impact: AACI’s Annual Report (2009-2010)
AACI’s Annual Report provides a recap of our successful year and recognizes our generous supporters. To learn about the many ways your contributions have made a direct impact on the clients we serve, download AACI’s Annual Report here.
New AACI Board Members Organize Successful Holiday Donation Drives
AACI’s Center for Survivors of Torture and the Domestic Violence Program/Asian Women’s Home would like to thank the many generous donors who supported us this holiday season. We particularly want to acknowledge three recently elected board members who went above and beyond to meet the critical needs of our clients.
Hien Nguyen, Director of Sales for the Americas at Netgear raised $2,000 to provide grocery store gift cards for abused families being served by Asian Women’s Home. Hanley Chew, an attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office, and Jeffrey Lee, an attorney with GCA Law Partners, LLP, spearheaded a donation drive with the Asian Pacific American Bar Association that brought roomfuls of clothing, toys, and household necessities to AACI.
Reflecting upon the success of the donation drive, Hanley Chew remarked, “The Asian Women’s Home and the Center for Survivors of Torture do truly significant and meaningful work. When I attended a tour of AACI, I was extremely moved by the stories of the people that they helped. Having grown up in New York’s Chinatown myself, many of those stories resonated with me. I feel very fortunate that I am in a position to support those incredible programs.”
9-Year Old Girl Breaks Into Savings and Brings Holiday Cheer to AACI Families
Though we found Jeff and Hanley’s outreach to venues such as the Asian Pacific American Bar Association impressive, one of our favorite stories of giving from their donation drive is about our youngest donor, a nine year old girl living in Redwood City.
This little girl wanted a special toy for Christmas. For four months, she saved her weekly allowance of $2. By the beginning of December, she had over $30. One night, she overheard her daddy talking about children who weren’t getting presents this Christmas because their families didn’t have enough money. She walked over and insisted that he break open her piggy bank right away, so she could buy basketballs and soccer balls for these needy girls and boys.
Thanks to donors like her, the Center for Survivors of Torture and the Asian Women’s Home helped 219 women, men, and children. By giving them the ability to provide gifts for their children, and to receive a warm jacket or gift card for themselves, AACI donors gave them love and hope, two things that are in short supply when recovering from torture and domestic abuse.
One of our clients remarked thankfully, “You can never know just how happy you made my kids feel. To them, you are the world.”
AACI Honored for “Asian American Voices” Film at CreaTiVe Awards
AACI is a proud recipient of this year’s CreaTiVe Award in the Non-Profit Social Services category for our film “Asian American Voices: Shaping Silicon Valley, Strengthening Community, Sharing Hope.”
The award was presented by CreaTiVe San Jose, a public TV center, to AACI and partner Story4 at the CreaTiVe Awards Gala on January 8, 2011.
AACI’s winning film follows the stories of three local Asian American immigrants, capturing the challenges and successes they experience on the way toward shaping the community and building a life in Silicon Valley.
FREE DVDs of the film are now available, along with educational discussion kits. To get details and request a DVD, visit www.AsianAmericanVoices.org. For more information, please contact Beverly Wong at (408) 975-2730 ext.462 or voices@aaci.org.
The film was produced by AACI’s Silicon Valley Asian American Voices project and made possible by a grant from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
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