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.

Fundraising for the Koalas

To support Australia’s 2020 bush fire relief efforts, AASuccess students and mentors worked together to create a fundraising campaign in the form of bingo boards. All proceeds from the fundraising campaign went towards the adoption of koalas whose homes were destroyed by the fires.

Key Members: AASuccess students worked together to come up with a fundraising goal, bingo board idea, and action items to share the campaign with friends and family. AASuccess matched the student’s donations 1-1.
Goal: The goal of this project was to adopt as many Koalas as we could in support of the WWF Australia Bushfire Emergency Fund.
How: On various social media platforms, all participants posted pictures of a bingo board that had donation values on each square. They then collected the donations from their audience, while attempting to fill out as much of the board as they could. After collecting the generous donations from friends of the AASuccess community, the money was used to both adopt displaced koala bears, as well as to donate to the WWF Australia Bushfire Emergency Fund.
Result-To-Date: After a month of fundraising via social media, the AASuccess family was able to adopt five koala bears, as well as donate $360 to the WWF Australia Bushfire Emergency Fund. Check out their adoption certificates!

2020 Youthcon Scholarship Program

The YouthCon Scholarship contest aims to encourage high school students living in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area to be actively involved with philanthropic work to make a difference in their local communities. The first place scholarship award totals $4,000 and is given to an innovative and driven student that shows a strong giving-back spirit and is in pursuit of strengthening his/her presentation skills, writing, and leadership.

Key Members: The 2020 YouthCon Scholarship Team consisted of the lead, Daniel Nguyen, as well as members Ashley Rodriguez and Jennifer Hoang. The team of senior high school students was supported by mentor, and AASuccess Board Member, Wendy Yuan.
Goal: The goal of this year’s scholarship competition was to give high school students the platform to brainstorm creative solutions to pressing community issues. The YouthCon team wanted to attract a small group of students who had a passion that they wanted to realize. Furthermore, the team wanted to inspire other students to give back to their communities as much as they could.
Prompt: Submit a 500-600 word essay based on the following prompt: Here at AASuccess, the cycle of giving back is an integral part of our mission. We believe that every act of generosity ripples throughout its community and inspires change. Share with us a local or community issue you are passionate about. Given a budget of $200, how would you use your skillset to create a project that would leave a lasting legacy of giving back in your community?
Timeline: September 2019 – July 2020
Result to date: The project was successfully launched and marketed through AASuccess’ various social media platforms. After passing through the Essay and Oral Presentation rounds, the winner of the scholarship, Elizabeth Nguyen, 18, was chosen. She is currently working with the YouthCon team during her 6-week Leadership Development Summer Internship to carry out her winning project idea. For more information about Elizabeth and her winning idea, click here.
Learn more: http://youthcon.aasuccess.org

Winter Giving Back Project

Toy Drive for Children in Need and Basket of Goodies for Mail Carriers

Timeline: December 2019
Key team members: Group of students Level 1 & 2
Results:
- Assembled 7 baskets of goodies to be given to mail carriers at each student’s house
- Bought, wrapped, and delivered over 25 gifts to Patrick Henry’s Homeless Shelter and to 5 underserved, new immigrant families in Takoma, Maryland

5k Run to Support CASA DC

Cause: To support CASA DC (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children of DC)
Timeline: December 15, 2019
Key team member: Phillip Nguyen
Total Practice & Running Time: 6 hours
Result: 11 Participants (mentors, mentees, and relatives of AASuccess members) on the day of

PenPal Project

Project PenPal brings a modern twist to the traditional penpal arrangement by creating friendships that bridge the gap between country borders! Students as young as 13 years old in the U.S. are now connecting with students in Vietnam via handwriting letters and virtual meetings to learn about each other’s stories, cultural differences, interests, favorite hometown places, etc. The goal of this project was to bridge the gap between cultures, as well as to create new friendships between students in Vietnam and the U.S.

Key team members: Jenna Buffenbarger & Linh Le & Colby Pham
Timeline: November 2019-Present
How: Students from both the U.S. and Vietnam are staying connected by both traditional and modern methods of communication. The participants would exchange handwritten letters as well as meet up to chat during online meetings.
Result to date:
- Total number of participating students: 8 (3 from the U.S. and 5 from Vietnam).
- Students would exchange letters and meet virtually once per month in order to learn from one another via cross-cultural exchange, strengthen friendships around the world, and improve their communication skills.
Interested in participate or support: contact Khue Bui at khue.bui@aasuccess.org

Computer Bridge

According to the EPA, Americans throw away 52 million computers while 28 million Americans do not own a computer. Thus, a large proportion of our community is not able to access the digital age and its many educational and professional opportunities. To help address this disparity, our YouthCon scholarship, Ethan Nguyen, a Senior from George C. Marshall High School, and our 2019 YouthCon Scholarship winner, is working on a project that bridges the gap between donors and underserved communities.

Timeline: June 2019 – present
Goals:
- Reduce electronic waste by teaching users how to repair computers
- Allow high school students to refurbish and distribute donated computers from individuals, local governments, and companies to communities
Donate:
- Computers
- Flat screen monitors
- USB drives
- Keyboards
- Mice
- All donations are tax deductible

Result to-date

So far, Ethan has 7 computers, but he needs your help to reach 20 computers. He also gave out a few repurposed laptops to newly immigrant families in the DMV area.

Got questions? Please email ethan.nguyen@aasuccess.org.
https://sites.google.com/aasuccess.org/computerbridge/home

2019 Youthcon Vietnam

YouthCon Vietnam is a scholarship competition designed to offer financial assistance for Vietnamese students aged between 15 and 20 who can both write coherently and express what they write orally, but also can demonstrate the characteristics of responsible citizens, future leaders, and change makers.

2019 YouthCon Scholarship essay prompt:

“If you could leverage 15 million VND, what project(s) could or would you undertake to make improvements in your local neighborhood or community?”

Timeline: March-June 2019
Led by: Lisa Ha
Results:
- 24 applicants from middle schools and high schools in Vietnam, ages ranging from 15-18
- 4 volunteer judges who are CEOs of prestige companies in VN & US + 3 volunteers
- Top 2 awards:
  - “No worries” – A three-pronged approach program to assist chronic disease patients in spending their last days meaningfully
  - “Happism” – A personalized mobile application and website to aid with users’ physical and mental health by providing advice, health-related information, trackers, and reminders.

Color-A-Smile

As part of the Delta Success Elementary course in giving back, 50 Lasan Elementary students in Vietnam participated in the Color-A-Smile Project where they colored cards and wrote good luck messages that were sent to senior citizens, overseas veterans, and anyone in need of a smile.

Timeline: April 219

Team: Frere The Anh, Catarina An Nhien, Nguyen Nguyen, and 50 elementary students in Vietnam

Results: The cards were sent to the US, where we distributed to senior citizens and overseas veterans.