From 21 to 22 January 2023, the Alyus Rancho Cucamonga branch will have a bazaar at the first Lunar New Year 2023 Garden Fair co-organized by Rancho Cucamonga and Panana Event. The bazaar booth is located on the right side of the site, and the layout is unique and novel, with strong Chinese cultural characteristics. The volunteer bazaar has a wide variety of goods; The exhibits, which are rich in traditional Chinese art, such as Fu characters, key chains, and homemade handicrafts, are warmly welcomed by local tourists. In addition, it has attracted interviews and reports from local we-media. The volunteers are diligent and hard-working, giving full play to the spirit of bearing hardships and practicing the spirit of volunteer service. The success of the charity sale was also made possible by the parents of volunteer workers who, regardless of the cost, made Aylus’s first charity sale a success.
Through this activity, the volunteers had a deeper understanding of the traditional Chinese Spring Festival culture and spread the meaning and connotation of Chinese culture to more tourists. In this activity, the volunteers learned the spirit of teamwork, exercised their hands and minds, and improved their ability to communicate with others. Of course, in the activity, we also found the shortcomings of the volunteer organization because of the lack of experience and a little immature. In future actions, we will compensate for these deficiencies and achieve better results. But generally speaking, this activity has developed our strengths, made up for our weaknesses, and gained more experience in social activities. After two days of charity sale, we received nearly $400 , which brought this activity to a perfect end.
Here are two insights from two of our members:
On January 21 and 22, 2023, the AYLUS Rancho Cucamonga Branch attended and volunteered at the two-day Lunar Festival hosted by Panama and our city. Our main goals were to sell Lunar Year
souvenirs and raise awareness of AYLUS and our branch as well as recruiting members. We successfully secured a venue for free at the festival after talking to the director.
When we arrived on site in the morning, we set up our venue with an easy-up and tables. We prepared the items we were going to sell, such as tiger drawings, squishies, purses, lanterns, flower bookmarks and numbers (DIY). We hung up our AYLUS poster at the back and tables with our items in the front.
When visitors walked by, we had a designated member to greet them and introduce them to what we were selling and what our organization was by passing out paper with information about AYLUS. One of our successful interactive activities was the DIY flower bookmark. Elementary and middle-schoolers, under the guidance of our volunteers, learned how to assemble a bookmark that contained dried flowers.
By selling these souvenirs, AYLUS Rancho Cucamonga garnered over 300 dollars, where all was used to cover funds for future projects and as donations. In addition, we recruited multiple members to our AYLUS Branch which will dramatically benefit us.
In the end, the Lunar Festival was a good opportunity to support and raise awareness of AYLUS and more importantly, have fun at the festival. In fact, this was the first official city-hosted Lunar Festival and it was great that we had a chance to attend it.
Wrote by Tommy Tang
I am Molin Wang, a Seventh Grade pre-teen girl, participating in volunteer work for the first time. My mom knew about a Chinese group called AYIUS. Their purpose is to assist poor people. They do this by having volunteers sell items. I produced my own paintings of Chinese Lunar New Year’s for sale. I also bought and sold fidget toys.
I’d like to thank the people who bought my paintings for supporting our volunteer work at AYIUS.
These were my memories: I remembered, with a smile, a woman who looked appreciative as I handed her a Chinese painting of a red lion. “Three paintings already sold!” I said to myself. I was pleased that someone admired and valued the painter’s work. (Mine!)
I was proud of our group. Some people sold fidget toys for kids, pens and pencils, Chinese Lunar New Year decorations, or phone cases. Needy people would receive donated income from my paintings.
I only worked for two days, a weekend, but I felt appreciated and respected. As lion dancers performed and kids ran around with each other holding snacks, a brown-haired woman stopped by our AYIUS booth to look at another of my paintings of a dancing red lion. A lion dancing is believed to bring good luck and fortune to people’s lives or businesses. I could see that the woman understood the meaning of the painting. “How much is this?” she asked. “Thirty dollars,” I said. “You did this?” she asked again, gasping when I responded positively. “Would you sell it for fifteen dollars? I really want to hang this in my classroom and show it to my students.” I thought for a moment. Then I realized that money isn’t what was important here. I painted the lion to foster Chinese culture and admiration for my work. That’s what really mattered. “You can take it for fifteen,” I said to the teacher. “I am glad someone wants to display my painting.” I smiled. She carefully held and examined it. I requested a selfie with her and myself as a memento for the AYIUS society.
There are always people out there who admire you and people you can be friends with. (I met two new friends who also were volunteering for AYIUS.) Patience, persistence, and the courage to try are unbreakable elements of success.
The names of the 12 members who volunteered are:
01/21/2023
Yongxi Hu 6 hours
Yangxuezhe Sun 10 hours
Tommy Tang 8 hours
Molin Wang 8 hours
Zixuan Wang 10 hours
Eric Wang 8 hours
Yuxuan Liu 4 hours
Ryan Kan 4 hours
Hongshen Lu 4 hours
Alice Li 4 hours
Dexuan Wang 5 hours
Zixiao Jia 4 hours