2021 Events

TVC News

Great News! We have been officially recognized by the ACA Executive Board as the Teen Volunteer Council, a change from our former Teen Volunteer Committee. This change results from ACA’s structure going forward. We will continue to coordinate closely with the ACA and its many events in the future. Our TVC will be recognized on the ACA’s Annual Volunteer Appreciation Ceremony on November 20th, 2021. Currently, we have over 24 student volunteers, and we hope more will join. We really appreciate the support from all our members and their families.

TVC 2022-2023 School Year Co-Presidents

We have chosen the TVC Co-Presidents for the 2022-2023 School Year. They are Ingrid Huang (Troy High School, 11) and Nicole Zhong (Greenhills, 10). They have exhibited outstanding community service, leadership, and creative talents to the TVC and the ACA. We know that they will lead the TVC team into our next chapter. Over the next five months, we will fully support them and begin the transfer of responsibilities. Their presidential responsibilities will be in full effect beginning June 1st, 2022.

TVC Extraordinary Leadership Award 2021

TVC Extraordinary Leadership Award is open to TVC president, vice president, directors, and outstanding team lead. We are happy to announce the 2022 recipients Dillan Lau and Shanshan Ye. Dillan and Shanshan are long term ACA youth volunteers since they were at young age. They took initiative to co-found the TVC and build this wonderful platform for teens to contribute the Asian community, practice leadership, and make new friends working as one team. Congratulation Dillan and Shanshan! Dillan and Shanshan will represent the TVC and give an TVC presentation at the upcoming ACA board meeting.

TVC Sub-teams Announcement

We have established TVC Sub-teams. Please see the attached word file for the placements and a general description of responsibilities. The members will hear from each lead of the team to begin activities and receive training. All the TVC members will not be restricted to the group you sign up for, as we will leverage your talents for future planning in other areas as well. We will continue to keep the sign-up open. Please sign up if you haven’t done so yet. Sign up link is here.

TVC Logo Introduction

Nicole Zhong

The expansion of the Teen Volunteer Committee to the Teen Volunteer Council came with the need for a new logo. I decided to take on that job, keeping some core ideas in mind. I wanted the logo to symbolize both the volunteering aspect and the ACA logo, so that when you looked at it you knew exactly what it represented (volunteering in ACA!). However, I also wanted to breathe a new life into the logo, and make it clear that it was a committee run by youth. Combining these three aspects proved to be a challenge. While the volunteering part was easy to design, I struggled keeping the format similar to the ACA logo, yet still giving it a modern twist. As part of my assignment, I was told that these two logos would be featured next to each other a lot, and so they needed to look cohesive. As much as the original ACA logo is iconic, it is also very traditional, and so it was an uphill battle to find a way to make the TVC logo look more contemporary. However, I decided to think outside of the box (as youth these days do), literally! During the twentieth time that I stared at the design on my screen blankly, desperately trying to think of something, I noticed that my design was a circle in the middle of a blank square. If I looked outside of the circle… there was so much empty space to be filled up! That’s when I got it– let’s play with the empty space around the logo and add something to spice up the surroundings. What I settled on were these circle, bubble-esque designs that float around the standard logo. I think that the bubbles give the logo a more youthful look and makes it clear that this committee is for teenagers who want to make a change. When you look at the logo, I hope you feel that the Teen Volunteer Council is a group of intelligent and engaged students who are both passionate about volunteering and the ACA cause.

ACA Received OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates National Chapter Excellence Awards

Recently, the ACA Detroit Chapter of OCA has received the following awards at the OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates National Chapter Excellence Awards. The Virtual Youth Reading Program won 3 rd place for Project of the Year. Congratulations to the ACA and the Teen Volunteer Committee. The TVC members are happy to continue supporting the program for future iterations. We hope to have more

student volunteers join us. Founded in 1973, OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates is a 501(c)(3) national non-profit, membership- driven organization based in Washington, D.C. with over 50 chapters and affiliates around the country. Touching hundreds of thousands of AAPIs each year, OCA works with its organizational partners, members, chapters, and supporters to empower the next generation of leaders. To learn more OCA: https://www.ocanational.org/about.

ACA Summer Internship Sharing

Shanshan Ye: I currently am working as the Business Development Intern at ACA. Here, I researchpossible grants, apply for grants, work on furthering the development and influence of ACA, and raise funding. So far, I have finished redesigning the Amazon Smile graphics that bring passive income and am currently working on a grant application, specific to AAPI advocacy non-profit organizations such as ACA. I also plan on reworking the Kroger rewards program and starting a personal project that will help ACA develop into a bigger, better organization.

Dillan Lau: I am a Data Management Intern this summer for the ACA. The main project of cataloging all the books in the ACA Library is one of my major assignments, which has been completed. Now, I am working on website building. Specifically, I am redesigning the ACA website to make it more professional and cleaner. I will also help polish ACA’s main website. To do so, I am learning the intricacies of both Wix and WordPress website builders. Later this summer, I will manage and plan the TVC’s booth at the Healthy Gardening Fair.

TVC Donated Books to Novi Public Library

The Novi Public Library has recently started to accept book donations which will be used to expand their collection and enrich their services. On May 13th, The TVC utilized the option and donated 224 English books raised from an earlier ACA Book Drive. More books will be donated to the library later this summer.

The ACA and TVC Supported “One Book, One World MI”

We care, we express, we read.

As part of the celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Michigan community leaders and volunteers launched a wide-scale effort of bringing cultural Asian books to K-12 public schools to raise awareness of Asian American experiences. The One Book One World MI program largely advocated for the local community to purchase and donate cultural Asian books from a carefully selected list. Within a month, the program raised over $15,000, allowing for the purchase of over 1500 books. All books have been donated to 5 school districts and select private schools. As of now, 69 schools are on the waiting list for books from One Book One World. ACA is one of the key supporters of this meaningful event. TVC members were happy to make financial donations to this effort. We hope you do the same. Please help give a hand and make your donation here at: https://1book1worldmi.org. Thank you.

Story Time with Mayor Roslyn Grafstein and the Association of Chinese Americans

TVC members Shanshan Ye and Ingrid Huang represent TVC to lead kids reading and activities.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ4Q6xG51l0

ACA’s Community Involvement!

9/11 – ACA joined Canton Township Government and the community in the 20th Anniversary 9/11 Memorial Ceremony at the Heritage Park Amphitheater. ACA Canton Center Manager Lei Wang and youth volunteer Shanshan Ye spoke during the ceremony about the rise in hate crimes since 9/11, twenty years ago, and the impact it has had on our day-to-day life. [August 28] Healthy Gardening Fair and Night Market. 

This was an annual “Homegrown, Homemade” themed event with a special focus on Healthy Living! The fair included: Home Garden Product Sharing; Health & Nutrition Workshops; food booths; and more. Glucose and blood pressure tests were provided by Wayne State University’s Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association at the event. The Caregiver Retreat was also held to thank caregivers for all their hard work! The event was kicked off with greetings from ACA President Shenlin Chen and Madison Heights City Mayor Roslyn Grafstein.

[June 23] Chinese Community Center Cleanup & Mini Painting Project 

Ever since the CCC opened in 2005, dedicated volunteers have contributed their time, talent and financial resources to maintain and enhance the building to help us better serve the community. This place is a home away from home. We are thankful for our volunteers and staff who rolled up their sleeves and joined us for our Annual Clean-Up at the Chinese Community Center this year! With their help, we were able to clean up the flower beds and parking lot, beautify the landscape, and even repaint part of the exterior walls. The Chinese Community Center was donated in 2003 by the late Mr. and Mrs. Mason Yu, joined by other corporate and individual donors. Ever since it’s opening in 2005, dedicated volunteers have contributed their time, talent and financial resources to maintain and enhance the building to help us better serve the community. This place is a home away from home. It is a place to promote volunteerism and the spirit of giving. We will continue to use this building to carry out the legacy that so many selfless contributors before us have left behind. Want to join ACA and be the next contributor? Contact us!

TVC member Ingrid and her mother Yonghong attended this event. Thanks, Ingrid!

[July 12-30] Youth Cultural Summer Camp

The ACA Summer Camp 2021 had 40+ campers in-person, hybrid, or virtual, all following CDC guidelines. The campers engaged in a plethora of activities including: Chinese yoyo, dance, Chinese painting, calligraphy, cooking, and more! On the last day of camp, all campers got a chance to show off all their hard work, and it was so heartwarming to see all of our campers’ smiling faces again! Thank you to all ACA staff and counselors for their hard work, as well as Risen Christ Lutheran church for lending the space. We hope this year’s camp was an enjoyable experience for those who attended and that you will join us again next year! TVC members Shanshan Ye and Ingrid Huang were camp counselors. Thank you for their time and dedications.

Immersion Summer Internship Program

ACA has enjoyed working with three College and five High School Summer Interns from July 14 to August 20. They are: (College) Hannah Wu, Oliver Wu, Catherine Xu, (High School) Lauren Billman, Aileen Hsi, Dillan Lau, Angela Xu, and Shanshan Ye. We appreciate their effort and wish them all good luck as they begin a new year at school.

2021 Healthy Gardening Fair

The Association of Chinese Americans has successfully hosted a Healthy Gardening Fair on August 28, 2021 from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. This is ACA’s annual events. It was a farmer’s market filled with local foods followed by a night market, which had cooking demos, local food vendors, and other stalls with variety of activities. It was a night full of fun! The ACA Library Teen Volunteer Committee was also successfully host a book drive at the fair and we really appreciated for all the people who had donated books to ACA library!

DONORS & VOLUNTEERS APPRECIATION: The President’s Volunteer Service Award Recognition (11/20)

In the spirit of this time-honored tradition, the Association of Chinese Americans (ACA) successfully held Annual Holiday Celebration on Saturday, November 20, 2021 virtually on Zoom, from 7pm to 8:30pm Eastern Standard Time. This Holiday Celebration included the Thanksgiving Celebration, Donor Appreciation, Volunteer Recognition, and President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) Recognition that has been a part of ACA going on for many years. TVC Members Shanshan Ye and Ingrid Huang received the Gold Award (PVSA), Dillan Lau received the Silver Award (PVSA).

During celebration, our TVC presidents Dillan Lau and Shanshan Ye introduced TVC’s history and activities highlights, and their ACA volunteering experiences, followed by our 4-minute TVC highlight video. Special thanks to our TVC Communications Director Nicole Zhong for creating this amazing video in a timely fashion. You can watch the video here.

Sharing and Publishing Your Creative Writing Workshop

The Association of Chinese Americans Teen Volunteer Council cordially invites you to attend our Creative Writing Workshop. The workshop will be held via zoom on December 4th, 7:00pm – 8:00pm, EST. The featured keynote speakers are Dr. Xiqiao Wang and her daughter Brooke Li, TVC member. Click here for more information. Registration link is available here.

TVC Recorded National Anthem

Invited by the ACA board, 8 TVC members recorded the Nation Anthem for the ACA 49th Annual Gala which was held on Dec. 11th. Thank you for the following members and their parents’ support. Video is available here. The National Anthem performance is at 4:20.

Director: Ning Zhang

Recording: Jun Xie

Piano: Dillan Lau (12th, Country Day)

Choir:

Ryan Lin (9th, Northville High School)

Hana Yang (9th, Cranbrook)

Caitlyn Li (10th, Cranbrook)

Frank Qiu (11th, Northville High School)

Eric Ni (9th, Northville High School)

Amy Ni (7th, Northville Hillside Middle School)

Isebelle Shi (10th, Novi High School)

Feed the Homeless Food & Clothing Distribution Event

Special shout out to TVC members and parents who supported the ACA Feed the Homeless food/clothing distribution event on Monday 12/20 to support the Metro Detroit Communities. They are Shanshan Ye, Ingrid Huang, Nicole Zhong, Caitlyn Li, Huawei Ye, Yi-An Liao, and parents Yonghong Guo, Ning Zhang, Alice Xie, and Stacy Liu.

The Association of Chinese Association, Page Honda and Page Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. jointly launched the “Fight hunger, share the warmth” love event to send food and warm clothing to the homeless people in Detroit. Special thanks to Page Honda and Page Toyota Motors for sponsoring this event.

We spread love and share love all the way, and sent the most sincere concern and holiday condolences to 5 shelters and soup kitchens in the Detroit area.

The ACA is grateful to family and friends for their continued support and care from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Looking forward to 2022, our pace of serving the community will be firmer and stronger.

All TVC Members and Parents Year-end Meeting

The TVC hosted a year-end meeting open to all members on December 30th at 8PM. 11 members and 6 parents attended the meeting. The meeting intended to connect TVC new members and have fun. Dillan and Shanshan shared the TVC’s history, mission, and events. Ms. Amy Fei shared her book writing donation story. She recently donated her book to the ACA library. Caitlyn and Shanshan hosted fun games session “Play Kahoot!” and “Buzzfeed Quizzes”. All attendees had fun. We look forward to seeing each other again in 2022.

Book《晓风鹤梦》Donation by Mrs. Amy Fei

Mrs. Amy Fei (费丹黎 ) recently published one book 《晓风鹤梦》. Her book introduces the works of the famous Qing Dynasty painter Fei Danxu. Mrs. Amy Fei would like to donate her book to ACA library. TVC is happy to add this book to the ACA book collection and introduce it to many readers.

Mrs. Amy Fei (费丹黎) was born and raised in Beijing. She is a descendant of Qing Dynasty painter Fei Danxu (费丹旭). Mrs. Fei has loved Chinese classical literature and art since childhood. She was admitted to the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Mrs. Fei graduated from Renmin University of China. She studied in the United States in 1991 and now works in Michigan. r. Fei’s masterpiece “Dawn of the Wind and Crane” is a monograph introducing the works of the famous Qing Dynasty painter Fei Danxu.

Fei Danxu (费丹旭), aka (Hao Xiaolou (号晓楼)), was a famous painter in the Qing Dynasty. He specialized in painting beautiful portraits, with delicate and elegant brushwork, light colors, and beautiful images. He was also a master at painting poetry as an artistic conception; he integrated portrait painting with landscapes to express the inner world of classic characters. His works include: “The Atlas of Twelve Golden Hairpins”, collected in the Palace Museum in Beijing; “The Old Picture of Orchard,” collected in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum; “The Picture of Dongxuan Yishe,” collected in the Zhejiang Museum; “Fan Yiyi” “Autumn Picture Axis”, held in the Shanghai Museum, etc. He is also good at calligraphy and poetry. He is the author of “Still the Manuscripts of Thatched Cottage” and “Unengraved Poems by Fei Xiaolou”.

ACA 49th Anniversary Gala

The Anniversary Celebration is ACA’s signature annual gathering to celebrate the year’s accomplishments and refuel for future success. ACA held 49th Annual Celebration virtually on December 10 and 11 This year’s event was also the kick-off of the organization’s 50th anniversary in 2022, which is themed “Passing the Torch – Remembering Our History; Reimagining the Future.” The celebration began with the documentary screening “Far East Deep South” on Friday, December 10. This film helps commemorate the Asian American presence in the U.S. as well as the ACA’s own organizational history. The virtual celebration gala on Saturday, December 11 featured State and City officials, cultural performances, and recognition of outstanding community partners and sponsors. The prerecorded National Anthem by some TVC members was played at the beginning of the celebration. The recording of the celebration can be found here: ACA 49th Annual Gala .