PbP Volunteer at Chinatown Beautification Day & Book Drive

This past weekend, our beneficiary partner, non-profit Chinatown Youth Initiatives invited Project by Project NY to speak at their annual Chinatown Beautification Day. Chinatown Youth Initiatives (CYI) is an organization with the mission of empowering NYC youth and addressing the evolving needs of Chinatown, Asian Americans, and underserved communities.

The youth conference portion of Chinatown Beautification Day (CBD) serves as an opportunity for CYI to educate participants on ways they can take action on their community and engage in civic activities. This year’s theme was “Roots & Resilience,” focusing on the diverse traditions and cultures that comprise Chinatown. The conference, which was hosted in the Financial District in New York City, had around 50 local New York City high school students in attendance.

Our PbP members hosted a panel during this conference portion in which they shared insights on multiple topics related to their own education journeys. Members on the panel included PbP NY Steering Committee members Qiaochu Li, Sherry Chen, Nancy Wong, Joan Cheung, Grace Calip, and Berton Wang. The panel members shared about how their identities as Asian Americans have evolved over time, how they navigated relationships with their parents during high school and college, and how they handled challenges that came with these times. As Sherry Chen said, “Be ambitious and proactive to guide your career and future. Ask questions and be open to change. Stay resistant and don’t give up hope. It’s a marathon not a sprint.”

In addition to sharing their experiences at the event, Project by Project NY also donated over 80 books from leaders in the AAPI community, made possible by the Back-to-School Book Drive Social held on August 17. These included Melissa Fu’s Peach Blossom Spring, Daphne Palasi Andreades’ Brown Girls, Jade Song’s Chlorine, Trung Le Nguyen’s The Magic Fish, and Malinda Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club.