Art Gallery Fundraiser

Want to use your skills for a good cause? We are calling for all volunteers to participate in this fun yet meaningful project led by Linh Le, a Level 1 AASuccess Student.

Timeline: September 2020 – March 2021
Key Member: Linh Le, a Sophomore at Poolesville High School
Goal: Raise at least $600 to donate to Art Works Studio School, which will go towards providing 6 students with 10 weeks of art classes OR towards hiring an ASL interpreter. Art Works Studio School is a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C. with the mission to help adults and young children learn art
through accessible programs in schools that may not offer creative education.
How: Raising fund via creating and selling artworks. Linh will be holding an art workshop once a week with all of the members to create art together, which include all types of mediums, from watercolor to acrylics to pencil sketches.
Result-To-Date: Organized weekly virtually meetings to learn how to create art together with 3 main participants.

From the Smallest to the Biggest Things

As part of the DELTA program, last Summer, two students in Vietnam Khoi-Nguyen Nguyen and Nam Nguyen started to collect recycled trash, sell them to the scrap shop, use the money to buy food and gifts, then give to underserved families around their neighborhood.

Timeline: August 2020 – October 2020
Key Members: Khoi-Nguyen Nguyen and Nam Nguyen, 7th grader at Le Loi Secondary School
Goal: Help people around our neighborhood while protecting the environment
How: Raising fund via collecting and selling recycle materials, then buy gifts and foods to give out to the underserved families in our neighborhood.
Result-To-Date: Raised 300,000 VND and gave out presents to 3 families. Reached a total of 14 people. Spent time playing and engaging with people from these families.

Featured article: https://blog.aasuccess.org/recycle-to-support-our-neighbors/

Hand Sanitizer for Underserved Community

Recently, there was a COVID-19 breakout in Vietnam. Hand sanitizer and face mask are completely sold-out, and are very difficult to buy. 2 middle school students in Vietnam, Tram and Truc, quickly realized that they were in a position to help the community in a meaningful way by producing hand sanitizer. Their first bottling was hand-made based on a recipe that they found on the internet. It met the basic alcohol-by-volume required to kill bacteria and viruses. Tram and Truc then gave out these bottles of homemade hand sanitizer to the underserved community at their hometown in Di Linh, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam. Through this project, they hope to make a small and humble contribution to the fight against COVID 19.

Timeline: August 2020 – October 2020
Key Members: Tram Nguyen, 9th grader at Nguyen Du Secondary School, and Truc Ta, 9th grader at Lien Dam Secondary School
Goal: Spread awareness about COVID-19 at Di Linh, Lam Dong, and providing hand sanitizer to poor people so they can wash their hands frequently.
How: Using the fund provided by AASuccess to buy the ingredients, Tram and Truc spent 2 days bottling hand sanitizer. They then met up to deliver the bottles together.
Result-To-Date: 60 bottles were made and given out to the underserved community at Di Linh, Lam Dong. The two students also engaged and had a meaningful conversation with the people there. They had a meal with one family afterwards.

Featured article: https://blog.aasuccess.org/hand-sanitizer-with-love/

Life Skills Workshop for College Students

As part of the live project of the Work Readiness Program, which allows students to demonstrate what they have learned in a business environment, three college students in Vietnam planned, organized, and hosted a free life skills workshop in front of more than 20 of their peers in English.

Timeline: June 2020

Key members: Thuat Vu, Thuy Vu, Luong Nguyen

Goals:

For the workshop attendees: engage them in positive behaviors that nurture their well-being and equips them with the necessary tools to make positive decisions
For the three students who hosted the workshop (who also student members of the Work Readiness Training program): The project serves as a training tool, which is designed to train them in project managing, practicing their public speaking skills, event planning skills, collecting and extracting information, as well as working as a team to deliver the result in a timely manner.

How
The three students work with each other weekly to plan, organize, discuss functions, recruit team members, figure out logistics details, and build the content for the workshop. They designed an invitation and sent out to their peers and successfully secured 24 attendees. Simultaneously, students met up with the Program Manager each Tuesday to update their progress and receive guidance on project management. On June 27, they presented their life skills workshop with 2 main topics: “Communication skills and How to Deal with Stress”. They also created a small game to engage the audiences, as well as a post-event survey to collect feedback.

Result-To-Date
95% of the attendees provided positive feedback to the organizing team, including criteria such as Content, Structure, Use of visual aids, Clarity / Expression, Ability to Handle Questions, and Time Control. The team also successfully reported their result summary and reflection in front of a group of mentors and students at AASuccess from the US.

Teaching Life Skills for Elementary Students

As part of the live project of the Work Readiness Program, which allows students to demonstrate what they have learned in a business environment, four college students in Vietnam planned, organized, and hosted a free life skills workshop for a classroom of elementary schoolers about how to smartly manage money.

Timeline: June 2020

Key members: Ha Nguyen, Long Le, Tho Nguyen, Vu Tran

Goals

For the workshop attendees: Engage them during the workshop with interesting activities to promote thought-provoking conversation about money while creating a safe atmosphere that will encourage students to make positive decisions
For the four students who hosted the workshop (who are student members of the Work Readiness Training program): The project serves as a training tool, which is designed to train them in project managing, practicing their public speaking skills, event planning skills, collecting and extracting information, as well as working as a team to deliver the result in a timely manner.

How

The four students work with each other weekly to plan, organize, discuss functions, recruit team members, figure out logistics details, and build the content for the workshop. They partnered with La San School in Ho Chi Minh, which is primarily kids from underserved families and were scheduled to be guest teachers to a group of elementary school students. On June 25, they presented their life skills workshop with the main topic: “How to Save Money for Children”. During the workshop, they facilitated the lesson through a game to better engage the students. They concluded the lesson with a Q&A session and a post-event survey to collect feedback from the kids.

Result-To-Date

The workshop was a success, the La San School students thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and were excited to participate. After giving the workshop, the organizers had time to review the feedback and reflect on their work style and the project they just completed. The team then completed the Work Readiness program by reporting their final results with an online presentation in front of a group of mentors and students from AASuccess.

Mini Newspaper

The Mini Newspaper is a collection of monthly updates, project summaries, shout-outs, and insightful interviews of our key members. The ultimate goal is to inspire and share joy among AASuccess students.

Timeline: May 2020 – Present
Key Members: Mentor Nguyen Nguyen (staff member) and students Jenna Buffenbarger and Phillip Nguyen work together in curating this collection of updates and preparing them for release to our internal AASuccess community.
Goals:
- To keep AAS members up-to-date with one another, spread joy among our community during the quarantine period, provide insightful information about the activities of AASuccess, and present the caring and family culture of AASuccess.
- The Mini Newspaper is also used as a project training tool, which is designed to train AASuccess students in writing, practicing their interview skills, collecting and extracting information, as well as working as a team to deliver the result in a timely manner.
How: Students work with each other weekly to collect information, edit material, and design the newsletter in a fun, appealing format. It is sent to all members, including the board members, at the end of the month via email.
Result-To-Date: The Mini Newspaper is sent out each month to all AAS members. Articles currently consist of topics such as Highlights of the Month, Mentor-Mentee Interview, Articles Worth Checking Out, Fun Product Reviews, and Jokes of the Month.

Wellness Bingo Competition

During times of quarantine and social distancing due to COVID-19, it can be difficult to find the motivation to exercise. Therefore, the Wellness Bingo Competition was created as a fun, engaging way to get all AASuccess members to start exercising and taking care of their physical and mental health.

Timeline: May 2020 – June 2020
Key Members: A team of students consisting of Daniel Nguyen, McKenzie Tran, Jenna Buffenbarger, and Colby Pham led the project.
Goal: The goal of the fitness bingo board is to provide AASuccess students and mentors with a collection of different exercises and activities to boost their physical and mental health, while also engaging in a friendly competition with fellow peers during quarantine.
How: All participating AASuccess members and friends were split into different groups. For an entire month, a bingo board was released each week containing 25 different exercises and activities that emphasized a healthy lifestyle. Each team member worked individually to complete the bingo board, gaining points for their team along the way.
Result-To-Date: After four weeks of intense exercising and competition, the winning team emerged, consisting of AASuccess members Wendy, Nguyen, Cho Kiu, Vihanh, and Nam. From this project, everyone gained a large collection of new, exciting activities to try at home, motivated one another to practice healthy habits in their everyday lives, and pushed one another to exercise every week together.

Lasting Legacy Projects

“Lasting Legacy,” means leaving a community better than it is found through one’s own actions. In the wake of the horrific crimes committed against the black community nationwide, AASuccess is organizing service projects dedicated to raising awareness for racial equality in our communities. Students and mentors will work together to brainstorm creative projects that are designed to combat racial inequality, whether that be through social media campaigns or educational forums. We want to execute ideas that stretch beyond donations and help bridge the gap between minorities at our own capacities.

Key Member: This project is organized by Board Member, Wendy Yuan.
Goal: (1) To raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement, while also learning how to combat systemic racism in our communities and (2) To instill a sense of duty and activism among our younger members by giving our students the guidance, platform, and support to stand up for what they believe in.
How: All students and mentors of AASuccess have been split up into four groups to brainstorm a creative project idea that will help raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Result-To-Date: Currently, all four groups have submitted their project proposals and have transitioned into the planning phase for their Lasting Legacy projects.
Group 1’s project: Heath Fair to provide free basic health services such as blood test, HIV testing, and hepatitis screenings in order to support the Black Lives Matter movement and strengthen the bond within sectors of the BIPOC community.
- Provide complimentary basic health services to underserved communities, low-income families, and those who do not have health insurance. We hope to bring awareness to health disparities affecting minorities, specifically the black community.
Group 2’s project: Collaboration with Little Lights Urban Ministries
- Our team of mentors and mentees would reach out to this organization for a potential collaboration/partnership (preferably in mentoring) during this summer 2020.
- Provide support to Little Lights Urban Ministries to further their mission in building a community of racial and class reconciliation via academic support and character development.
Group 3’s project: Create infographic to bridge knowledge gaps about racial issues
- - Collect information and create graphics to increase knowledge on the BLM related matters. We will focus on showcasing youth-led movements and possible solutions in education.
Group 4’s project: Book Club and Art Gallery
- Create a newspaper portfolio that contains different pieces of art that express our feelings for the BLM movement. After reading a book that highlights the importance of the dismantling of systemic racism, we will be able to display our understanding through different mediums.

AASuccess Podcast Program

The AASuccess podcast program is a series of ongoing podcasts centered around various different topics. The podcasts are a way for AASuccess to better interact with the community while having fun at the same time. Subjects for the podcasts can be both serious and lighthearted.

Key Members: AASuccess mentors Dave Nguyen, Khue Bui, Vihanh Tham, and student Ashley Rodriguez work together in brainstorming topics and organizing podcasts for our general community.
Goal: The goal of the Podcast Program is to create a new, exciting way to share news with the AASuccess community, while also giving them a glimpse into the lives of the students and mentors who make up our organization.
How: Podcasts are hosted every few weeks by a new panel of members. The topic of the podcasts are pre-determined.
Timeline: May 2020 – Present
Result-To-Date: Thus far, five podcasts have been recorded and three have been published on the AASuccess website and blog:
- Podcast #1: New normal – Host: Khue Bui. Guests: Dave Nguyen and Wendy Yuan
- Podcast #2: Explain LSA – Host: Khue Bui. Guests: Dave Nguyen, Ashley Rodriguez, Jennifer Hoang
- Podcast #3: Delta program with LaSan Tan Hung – Host: Nguyen Nguyen. Guests: The Anh (LaSan principal) and Nhi Nguyen (student)
- Podcast #4: YouthCon 2020’s Lasting Legacy Theme – Host: Lani Nguyen. Guests: Daniel Nguyen, Ashley Rodriguez, Jennifer Hoang

The Period Project

Prepared by Ashley Rodriguez

Overview

Nationwide, menstrual poverty is a stigmatized issue that is traditionally discussed behind closed doors. In order to help raise awareness and end the stigma in my community, I started the Period Project, a fundraiser to increase knowledge about the dehumanizing effects of menstrual poverty. With support from family, friends, and community members, I collected a grand total of $1,300 funds. All donations are being used to fund the purchase of menstrual products in high demand at local community and women’s shelters.

Team

My team was comprised of young professionals and AASuccess mentors. I led the fundraiser by contacting local women’s shelters and potential donors to allocate money for the Period Project. My mentor Dave Nguyen contributed his management expertise to help me lay out the goals and next steps for my project. I received help from Wendy Yuan, who led marketing efforts to create a flier for the Period Project. Another AASuccess student, Daniel Nguyen, helped create donation boxes for the promotion of the Period Project. By means of the AASuccess Facebook friends, I was able to touch many people with my message virtually, garnering $625 donations.

Goals

Raise awareness for Menstrual Poverty: The taboo on menstruation is thoroughly surrounded by shame, secrecy, and stigma. The average woman spends about $200 on menstrual products including pads, tampons, and liners. For homeless women who cannot afford this financial burden, makeshift cloths supplant modern menstrual products. Improvised sanitary products such as newspapers, socks, and old clothes are used in public facilities without sanitary disposals, clean water, or private areas.
Collect at least $1,000 donations: Although there is an increasing demand for products in women shelters, some shelters do not receive enough government funding for menstrual products. Even though women’s shelters are the main suppliers of menstrual products for homeless women, most provide minimal pads or tampons.

Specifications (How)

I created a GoFundMe page and a Facebook campaign . Through promotion of the Period Project on the AASuccess Facebook page and on my personal social media account, I established a grassroots movement against period poverty in my community. I also created donation boxes that were put out in the AASuccess office, the main office of Falls Church High School, and at the entrance of KCS Landscaping’s headquarters at the Marriott Hotel in Fairview Park.

Expected Outcome

The overarching expected outcome of the Period Project is to increase general knowledge about menstrual poverty nationwide. In speaking with neighbors and potential donors, I had the chance to not only tell my story, but also garner support for my cause. I hope to destigmatize menstrual poverty in my community, even if by a small margin. I also hope to leave a lasting impact of change in the women’s shelters that I will provide with menstrual products.

Result-to-date

To date, I have contacted 12 women’s shelters in the local community that have demonstrated the need for menstrual hygiene products. With the generous donations that I’ve collected, I will be donating $1,300 worth of feminine hygiene products next January to the following shelters and organizations: Homestretch, Thrive DC, A-Span Ending Homelessness in Arlington, Bridges to Independence, Patrick Henry’s Family Shelter, and BRAWS. Most have provided me with wish lists of products that are of highest priority at their shelters. Each has indicated a specific need for travel-size or full-size toiletries and sanitary pads.

To support or volunteer for this project, please contact Ashley at Ashley.Rodriguez@aasuccess.org.