Care Packages for Community Champions - AALead Day of Service

Post adapted from original AALead post by Vi Nguyen, Youth Mentoring & Volunteer Programs Coordinator and Salena Chaudhry, Mentoring Intern

On February 16, 2019, PAFC joined youth, mentors, and staff from AALEAD at Martha’s Table at the Commons to participate in community service projects, share how mentoring has impacted their lives, and honor the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement in the Asian American community.

Youth discussed in groups how Asian Americans have been affected by the Civil Rights movement through the legalization of interracial marriage, passage of the Immigration Act of 1965 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the desegregation of schools.

Youth then participated in one of six community service projects that would impact the communities served by local community organizations: Martha’s Table, Philippine American Foundation for Charities, AP/I Domestic Violence Resource Project, Lutheran Social Services, and Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless.

PAFC’s community service project group created care packages for community elders who have made a difference in the DMV. Filipino American community. PAFC members, Krystle Canare and Brandon Bartolome, shared stories of the care package recipients who ranged from nurses, WWII veterans, teachers, and overall respected elders in community.

We are standing on the shoulders of giants. It is our goal to continue to share these stories with younger Asian American youth so that they can see role models who look like them, believe they, too, can accomplish incredible feats, and feel that there is a community around them who will support them in their journey. - Krystle Canare, PAFC President