Chinatown L A Mutual Aid Fund

02/04/2021

After 10 months collaborating as the Chinatown LA Mutual Aid Fund, SEACA and CCED will be reorganizing our joint COVID relief work. While the need has grown, our physical infrastructure and capacity have not, which has made collaboration increasingly difficult.

We are beyond appreciative for these months we've worked together and for all of the support from our numerous volunteers, allies, and donors, but we've realized it’ll be best to work independently moving forward to better serve the specific populations that we work with in Chinatown. We'll still be distributing food and supplies, but separately. Each organization will continue to meet the needs of Chinatown community members to the best of our capacity.

Since the inception of this mutual aid fund, we’ve routinely supported over 500 community members with:
• 5,611 hot meals
• 1,500 bags of produce
• 2,461 bags of supplies

We’ve distributed over $60,000 in financial assistance to families who may not have qualified for other public aid. Financial assistance was made possible by donations to the Chinatown Mutual Aid Fund along with philanthropic and government aid programs such as the LA County Worker Resiliency Fund and the Angeleno Card.

We couldn't have gotten this far without each other. Thank you for every post shared, every dollar or item or meal donated, for each person that's volunteered with us— it means so much to see and have people continuously and unconditionally care for each other without fail, for our vulnerable neighbors formal institutions actively neglect.

We created the mutual aid program because of our government’s failure to meet the needs of everyone in our community. Until we can hold our government accountable for doing better, there will always be a role for mutual aid. Please continue to take care of yourself, and take care of each other.

We won't be using this page anymore, but you can follow up with either of us here:

SEACA works to build power among Southeast Asian youth and their communities in Los Angeles for a more just and equitable society through intergenerational, multiethnic dialogue, leadership development, and community organizing. Stay updated with SEACA’s work on Facebook or Instagram .la or to donate visit www.seaca-la.org/donate.

Chinatown Community for Equitable Development is a multi-ethnic and inter-generational organization based in Los Angeles Chinatown whose mission is to build grassroots power with low-income and immigrant communities through organizing, education, and mutual help. Stay involved by following CCED’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter . To donate visit bit.ly/cceddonate

Graphic: Sophat Phea

01/14/2021

With total cases totaling over 900,000 in LA County, it is a public health imperative that we continue to protect each other and to continue giving back to the community in need.

Thank you Project by Project, Los Angeles COVID Volunteers, and Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council for the recent mask donations. CDC recommends that people wear masks in public settings, like on public and mass transportation, at events and gatherings, and anywhere they will be around other people. Please continue to wear your masks!

12/11/2020

We’re so happy to have partnered up with two local grocers in Chinatown these past couple of months to continue delivering groceries to community members who are still receiving mutual aid. We value being able to redirect funds and your donations to local small businesses.

Thank you to American China Co. (China Bookstore) and Yue Wa Market for the groceries and thank you to our wonderful volunteers who have been picking up and distributing the groceries. Lets do our part to continuing supporting one another and make sure to stop by Chinatown to shop at our community-serving small businesses.

You can even buy your own groceries along the block of 654 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, 90012. Shop for gifts and pick up a delicious Vietnamese sandwich here as well. Make sure to also participate in CCED holiday bingo where you’ll be able to receive a postcard and surprise sticker in the mail! Check here for more info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CImY9utAmPU/?igshid=h2frmi4xqwcj

12/01/2020

Thank you to Off Their Plate for providing 1,020 meals these past 3 weeks from Northern Cafe and Kobunga. They were able to feed our community AND give our hardworking meal prep volunteers a well deserved break. Special thanks to the volunteers who came through to deliver on the holiday week to make sure we didn’t miss a single week of providing meals.

10/20/2020

Free COVID testing tomorrow from 9am-3pm! Walk ups welcome

FREE COVID-19 testing in Chinatown TOMORROW! 😷 Spread the word to your neighbors and folks in the community!

Southeast Asian Community Alliance (SEACA)

09/08/2020

“CCED has been delivering for half a year. Volunteers have been working too hard.” - Mrs. Mar, CCED tenant leader

It’s easy to feel like your donations and volunteer time go unnoticed but rest assured, the Chinatown community is grateful.

As we continue to live with COVID-19 and as our community faces mass evictions, we must try our best to keep our mutual aid efforts going. Please continue to sign up to volunteer for our weekly mutual aid/hot meal distributions and donate to the LA Chinatown Mutual Aid fund!

Mutual aid is all about taking care of each other and protecting each other, and we would like to take the time to thank some key folks who have made that happen since our last post.

Thank you to our material donations: Papa Ngo’s Masks (100 cloth masks), Karen Loong (150 masks), King and Diane (30 hand soaps), LA County Department Of Public Health (Disposable masks, Cloth Masks, and Hand Sanitizers), Tito's Handmade Vodka (43 gallons of Hand Sanitizer)

Thank you to our meal preparers: Simmer & Sip, Sophia Chang, New Gamboge, Man-Yan Lam, Rachel Allen, Claire Meredith, Willa Lim, Olivia Wu, Janis Yue, Jessie Nicely, Belinda Luck, Sharon Zhu, Kieran de Leon-Horton, Kati Wu, Jintana Williams, Phoebe McMahon, Anisha Hingorani, Jackie Hsiung, Jason Lee, Jasmine Wang, Ivy, and Albie Samreth

Thank you to our fresh produce providers: Susan Park, EarthMatterz, and API Forward Movement

And lastly, thank you to the volunteers who have delivered all of these things in at times sweltering heat and thank you to those who contributed with their wallets.

07/26/2020

Although the collective efforts of LA government officials were far and few in between, it seemed that in the early stages of the first lockdown, the city was going to show up and step up with their hot meal program and other assistance programs.

Fast forward to now, and we are left to rely and lean on the community and mutual aid efforts. Funding has been put on hold for the Chinatown Service Center 's (CSC) senior hot meal programs since 6/24.

Thank you to Jade Wok, Thien Huong Vietnamese Restaurant, Simmer N Sip, Off Their Plate, and Sofia Chang when CSC failed to secure meals these past 5 weeks. Thank you to Susan Park for the frozen meals, Earthmatterz and API Forward Movement for the produce. And finally and not least our dedicated volunteers! 💗

Without the continual support from these folks, these efforts would not have been possible. Over a hundred seniors and tenants who rely on these meals would have to make the choice between food or rent or risk their own health to buy meals. Additional meals are also made and given to unhoused folks in the area.

We’re putting a call out to ask for donations to the Chinatown LA mutual aid fund and if you’re interested in volunteering please fill out this form https://tinyurl.com/ChinatownVolunteer

To donate, please follow our link https://www.seaca-la.org/donate/ and note "Chinatown LA Mutual Aid".

06/30/2020

None of this work can happen without support from the community and from other organizations 🙂🙂🙂🙂

Thank you Auntie Sewing Squad for the beautiful handsewn masks that are protecting the Chinatown community members. We are also grateful for the 404 meals prepared last week and this week by Northern Cafe and provided by Off Their Plate.

Lastly, since we have increased the amount of produce and eggs that are delivered to seniors and families, we wanted to thank API Forward Movement for their continuous support in providing locally sourced Asian groceries.

Photo Credits: Isabella McShane and Sophat Phea

06/20/2020

This is why we started the Chinatown Mutual Aid Fund, because we knew from experience that our folks were going to get shut out of government relief programs like Great Plates because they are TOO POOR.

“We started soliciting donations for meals and just paying out of pocket,” Trinh said. “We’ve spent thousands of dollars buying meals for folks that should be eligible but aren’t,” including people whose incomes were too low for Great Plates.

Some local officials and advocates have bristled at the income restrictions for the Great Plates Delivered program, arguing that too many people are being left behind.

06/13/2020

In the midst of all the work and actions our organizers have been putting together and/or attending, we have not neglected the Chinatown community. We are continuing to do our mutual aid work.

Thanks to our partnership with Chinatown Service Center we have been able to deliver hot meals from local Chinatown restaurants twice a week since May 19 to Chinatown seniors.

Special thanks for these past couple distribution days to Dr. Bronner's for donating 504 units each of hand sanitizer and liquid soap, King and Diane for non-perishable food and masks, Simmer & Sip for donating and preparing 204 hot meals, and Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association for 50 hot meals.

Thanks to everyone volunteering their time and for the ongoing donations, we have been able to do all of this AND provide cash assistance. We still welcome donations and volunteers, but we also want to explicitly encourage you to also donate to other organizations that are doing urgent and necessary work during this critical time!

Photo Credits: Isabella McShane, Sophanarot Sam, Charlotte Nguyen, CSC

05/21/2020

Since last Friday, we delivered hot meals over the course of four days to seniors and SRO residents thanks to Homeboy Industries, Everytable, Hop Woo BBQ & Seafood Restaurant, and Chinatown Service Center. Special shout-out to SimmerNSip for helping with deliveries on top of prepping meals, and to all of our dedicated volunteers!

Photo Credits: Sophat Phea (3), Isabella McShane (4), Angelica Moyes (3)