Welcome to VAYA's Official Blog. This exciting new blog provides an opportunity for VAYA to engage in a dialogue with our members, the community, and those interested in our organization. This blog will feature commentary and observations from VAYA Executive Board Members, contributions by VAYA Staff and members, as well as approved guest bloggers from outside of VAYA. This blog will only be a true community if you participate, so please send your thoughts to eboard@vayasd.org. Please be respectful and considerate when posting comments and thoughts. All comments will be reviewed and approved prior to publication. Thank you for visiting this blog!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Dear VAYA Members and Supporters,

Please find the latest updates from VAYA in the following categories:

I. VAYA General Updates
II: VAYA Tet 2010 Updates
III: Community Relations Updates
IV: VAYA & other Organizations Updates
V: Vietnamese Americans for the Cure
VI: Other Announcements & Information

I. VAYA General Updates
A. Upcoming VAYA Events
As the summer dwindles down, we are seeking leaders to take on some projects, including the: 6th Annual Street Clean Up Event, Mid-Autumn (Tet Trung Thu) Festival, and many others. If you have an interest in being more involved in VAYA by taking on a leadership role, please email us for more information at eboard@vayasd.org. Some upcoming important events:
  • The Mid-Autumn (Tet Trung Thu) Festival will take place on Saturday October 3, 2009 at the City Heights Recreational Center (4380 Landis St. San Diego, CA) from 3:00 - 7:00 PM. See attached for flyer.
  • The 6th Annual Street Clean Up Event will take place on Saturday October 17, 2009 at Hoover High School (4474 El Cajon Blvd San Diego, CA 92115) from 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM.
B. VAYA Meeting Minutes & Agendas
VAYA will no longer email out Meeting Minutes & Agendas. Everything will be posted on our website, http://www.vayasd.org/, where you can download them via our “Download” Section. ONLY GBM (General Body Meetings) Meeting Minutes, GBM Agendas, and EBM (E-Board Meetings) Agendas will be posted. For EBM Meeting Minutes, please send a request email to Secretary@vayasd.org. Thank you for your cooperation.

C. 2010 Asian/Pacific Islander American Youth Conference (APIAYC)
VAYA is in the process of forming the committee for our 2010 Asian/Pacific Islander American Youth Conference (APIAYC), aimed for July 2010. Please visit our official website (http://www.vayasd.org/) for further information and "Conference Coordinator" applications if you want to be a part of the organizing committee. Please email eboard@vayasd.org if you have immediate questions or concerns.

II: VAYA Tet 2010 Updates
A. VAYA's Miss Vietnam of San Diego™ 2010 Pageant Mixer
The date for the MVSD 2010 Pageant Mixer is set for Saturday October 10, 2010 at the Santa Fe Room in Balboa Park from 5:00 - 9:00 PM. If you are interested, please fill out an application @ http://www.sdtet.com/. All applications received before Thursday October 8, 2009 11:59 PM will guarantee an interview time during mixer, otherwise it will based on time available. For more information, please visit http://www.sdtet.com/.

B. General Tet News & Information
Don't forget that VAYA is actively recruiting new general VAYA staff and Tet 2010 Committee staff to add to our team. Please visit our official website (http://www.vayasd.org/) to download the application along with a document detailing the duties and responsibilities for each of the position. All applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis. While the majority of the Tet 2010 positions have been filled, we are looking for a few more candidates to head the Sponsorship and Ticketing Committee. If interested, please email the Tet Co-Chairs at: chair@sdtet.com. Congratulations to those already selected to be a staff for the 2010 VAYA Tet Festival. In addition, VAYA would like to welcome Tracey Pham as the new Budget Chair and Luynh Pham as the new Sponsorship Chair. A reminder that for the FIRST time, the 2010 VAYA Tet Festival will be hosting the First Annual Mr. Vietnam of San Diego. Further details TBD and TBA.

For more information about the 2010 VAYA Vietnamese Lunar Year Tet Festival, please visit: http://www.sdtet.com/. The site has been recently revamped and updated.

III: Community Relations Updates
A. California Endowment Updates
The California Endowment has selected City Heights as one of 14 communities to invest significant resources over the next 10 years as part of its state-wide initiative on Building Healthy Communities. Tri Nguyen, along with members Calix Vu-Bui and Huong Nguyen currently work with Mid-City CAN (Community Advocacy Network) to educate our community about this invaluable opportunity to shape policies that will have significant impact on City Heights in the next 10 years. They are interested in hearing from residents, service providers, and community leaders in City Heights on what they think this community needs most. In doing so, Tri Nguyen and Huong Nguyen will be hosting a “Free Pho” Lunch at Pho King (4658 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115) on Sunday September 13, 2009 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Residents of City Heights or those concerned about City Heights are welcome to attend this event.

Please RSVP to:
Upcoming Important Meetings

  • School Attendance Momentum Team: TBD
  • Community Peace Promotion Momentum Team: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 4:00 - 6:00 PM at the City Heights Center Office.
  • Momentum Team Open House: Saturday September 26, 2009 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM at the Performance Annex (City Heights).

GO TO http://www.midcitycan.org/pages/planning.htm for details/locations.

For more information on the CA Endowment Initiatives, please visit http://www.calendow.org/. For more information on the Mid-City CAN, please visit http://www.midcitycan.org/.

IV: VAYA & other Organizations Updates
A. Vietnamese Alliance to Combat Trafficking (VietACT)
VAYA's very own Community Relations Coordinator II (Non-Vietnamese Community), Calix Vu-Bui, is currently in Taiwan as the latest VietACT Intern (http://www.vietact.org/). Calix will be in Taiwan until late January working on issues of human trafficking at the Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office (http://www.taiwanact.net/). VietACT & Calix Vu-Bui would like to thank all those who took a stand against human trafficking and participated in the Art Drive. Connect with her experiences in Taiwan and check out the Artwork YOU made possible by linking to her Blog @ http://vietactintern.blogspot.com/.

V: Vietnamese Americans for the Cure
A reminder that the Vietnamese American Youth Alliance (VAYA), in working collaboration with Gach Noi UCSD Vietnamese Student Magazine, the Vietnamese Student Associations of SDSU and UCSD and Meeshie.com, is teaming up with the Susan G. Komen Foundation through Komen San Diego in order to tackle one of the most overlooked but one of the most high risk diseases amongst Vietnamese women: breast cancer.

One of the ways to help and spread breast cancer awareness amongst Vietnamese women and the rest of the community is to come together as a single Vietnamese entity and partake in Komen San Diego’s largest fundraiser and awareness event: the 2009 Komen San Diego Race for the Cure on Sunday, November 1st in Balboa Park. Komen San Diego for the Cure is a 5K (3.1 miles) fundraiser and awareness event at Balboa Park and it is critical to have major Vietnamese involvement so we can provide much more breast cancer resources for our Vietnamese Community. We will be putting together a team for this event - "Vietnamese Americans for the Cure" and everyone is encouraged to take part of this event. In preparation for the race, we will have weekly "fun trots" every Sunday at 3:00 PM at different locations announced in advance as well as information sessions.

Lastly, VAYA is actively looking for singers to audition for the national anthem for the 2009 Komen San Diego Race for the Cure (the actual performance would be on the day of the event in front of 15,000 people). We are also looking for Vietnamese spokeswomen to discuss breast cancer awareness live on the major news channels on the day of the event. Komen San Diego will provide training.

For more information about the race, please go to http://www.komensandiego.org/komen-race-for-the-cure.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us:

VI: Other Announcements & Information

In 2010, the U.S. Census will define who we are as a nation. Taken every 10 years, the census affects political representation and directs the allocation of billions of dollars in government funding. As a 2010 Census partner, you can educate your community about the importance of participating in this historic event and help ensure no one is left uncounted. You can help your community receive the fiscal and social benefits to which it is entitled. Achieving a complete and accurate 2010 Census is in our hands.For more information about the U.S. Bureau of Census, please visit: http://www.census.gov/.

For a complete listing of VAYA's upcoming events/meetings, please visit our official calendar at: http://www.vayasd.org/calendar/. Please direct any questions or concerns to VAYA Secretary, Anthony (Vinh) Nguyen, at secretary@vayasd.org.

On behalf of VAYA's Executive Board and Staff, thank you for your continual support.

About the Author: Anthony (Vinh) T. Nguyen serves as Secretary for VAYA.


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