When senior and Asian Community at Tufts (ACT) President Adrienne Poon returned to Tufts after traveling to the Mississippi Gulf Coast as part of a Tufts Volunteer Vacation last month, she couldn't shake the feeling that she could do more.
"I definitely got the impression that a privileged community was giving help to a privileged community," Poon said. "I often wondered about the needs of those who were the working class or in poverty before the storm."
As Poon discovered, a sizeable portion of that segment is from Vietnam (over 7,000 Vietnamese live in New Orleans).
"Much of the Vietnamese community down there were war refugees coming with nothing and trying to survive off fishing," Poon said. "Now that livelihood is wiped out as well."
In an effort to provide assistance to the Vietnamese community, ACT partnered with the Vietnamese Students Club (VSC) to hold a charity auction last night in Alumnae Lounge. The services that were auctioned included everything from special sQ! and breakdance performances (see freshman Austin Worth, pictured above) to bhangra and cooking lessons.
Funds raised at last year's annual ACT charity event went toward tsunami relief. This year, auction proceeds - which amounted to slightly over $1,000 - will go to the Boat People SOS Organization, which, according to its Web site, provides "relief, assistance, and support to Vietnamese refugees and immigrants in their search for freedom and dignified life."
"Language barriers are the primary reason why this community has been unable to receive the benefit of the aid available for them through the Red Cross and FEMA," Poon said. "It's important to remember the needs of such communities and make sure that they are not forgotten about."
