Greetings and Happy Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year). The Lunar New Year begins in East Asia on the second new Moon after the winter solstice - between January 21 and February 20. This year, the New Moon occurs in China today, Tues., Feb. 1 which, by the time you are reading this, will be yesterday in China.
(Full disclosure, my husband lived in China for a couple of years and while he was there, we were able to travel across the entire country. Currently, our daughter is the Director of Libraries at a British boarding school - think Hogwarts - outside of Shanghai so we take the Winter Holiday as it is called in China, very seriously including decorations in our home).
Celebrate the Chinese Culture!
Since today is the start of this Chinese celebration, I thought it would be appropriate to visit a nonprofit in our area that supports the Chinese community and promotes the Chinese culture. The Olympia Area Chinese Association (OACA) is a nonprofit, 501 c3, non-partisan community organization with a mission to support the area's Chinese community in preserving Chinese cultural traditions and to promote cultural exchanges between the Chinese community and the local Olympia area community. OACF originally began as Olympia Area Chinese Fellowship (OACF) and was founded by Mrs. Toy Kay in 1980.
The organization was renamed OACA in 2014. According to Mingta Lin, the current president of the organization, “we in the Chinese community try to be positive, helpful and contribute to the community. The objectives of our organization are to
Celebrate the New Year!
The OACA is hosting their Chinese New Year Gala for the Year of the Tiger on Saturday, February 12 at 7 p.m. To ensure the safety of everyone, the celebration will be online. The celebration is open to everyone and for details on how you might participate go to https://www.olympiachinese.org/
Celebrate a New Location!
This past week, I attended the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce's ribbon cutting for the new location of Dry Tikes and Wet Wipes (DTWW). According to Lance Benson, the Executive Director and Founder of the organization, DTWW is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization committed to serving families in need of diapers and wipes. "I was seeing people struggling, and they would debate on paying for food, diapers, or rent.” Lance started at the most grassroots of levels asking friends if they had extra diapers. He made calls to daycare centers to see if they had extras that kids had outgrown. He launched a Facebook page and posted signs around town. "Diapers Wanted."
Today, DTWW has its own storefront location. “A lot of times, someone will be a few days from their next paycheck, reach into the diaper bag and find they have one diaper left,” explains Benson. “In that case, they can call us, and we will give them a handful of diapers and wipes, enough to get them to their next paycheck,” Benson says, they support families throughout Thurston County but are not strict about where people live. “If someone needs diapers, we are here for them.” DWTT does not currently provide any other items than diapers and wipes. “We have all sizes of diapers from preemies to pull-ups for older kids. Occasionally, someone may donate formula, and, in those cases, we make sure it gets to a family who can use it. But for right now we are focusing on diapers and wipes.”
What You Can Do
DTWW welcomes anyone who would like to donate diapers and wipes. They also encourage individuals and groups to host diaper drives. (Seems like a great idea for a baby shower.)
For more details on how to host a diaper drive or support this organization go to https://www.drytikesandwetwipes.org
Soliciting your ideas
If you know of a nonprofit that is doing something great, celebrating a success, needs some outstanding volunteers, or hosting an event, let me know! This column (aside from a little education) celebrates nonprofits!
Mary Beth Harrington, CVA (Certified Volunteer Administrator) lives in Tumwater. She travels the country speaking at conferences and to individual organizations articulating issues facing nonprofits. Send your ideas to her at MaryBeth@theJOLTnews.com
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