Serving the Community for 37 Years

The Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC) celebrated 37 years of service on Sunday, November 3, 2019. Every year, CCACC celebrates its anniversary by giving back to the community, and this year was no exception. CCACC was bustling with activity throughout the day with its Annual Meeting in the morning and Community Day event in the afternoon, with people bringing in bags of clothes to donate through the CCACC Clothing Drive all throughout the day.

CCACC kicked off its Annual Meeting at 11 o’clock, with CCACC Executive Director Mr. Chih-Hsiang Li welcoming all the guests and sharing with everyone the growth and achievements at CCACC in the past year. In spirit of giving back to the community, Mr. Li then presented CCACC’s donation to KID Museum, which was accepted by its founder and CEO Ms. Cara Lesser.

Subsequently, CCACC celebrated its growth as shown through newly received grants, the introduction of new services to the community, and the increasing number of members joining the CCACC family. The success was witnessed by CCACC’s members, volunteers, and board members, as well as, notable community figures who have supported CCACC throughout the years. This year, CCACC was honored to invite, from the Embassy of PROC, the Counselor and Deputy Consul General, Ms. Yang Dong, the Second Secretary, Mr. Chuan Chen, as well as Maryland State Senator, Susan Lee and Maryland House Delegates, Dr. Clarence Lam and Ms. Lily Qi.

Furthermore, CCACC enjoyed the presence of members from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Mr. Shih-Chih Chen, the Director of Culture Center, and Mr. Paul Wang, the Senior Executive Officer.

Administrative Director of the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (APAA), Ms. Christina Poy, and Commissioner of the Maryland Governor’s Commission on APAA, Mrs. Elizabeth Chung attended and thanked CCACC for being a pillar in the Chinese community.

The Asian Liason from the Office of Community Partnerships, Mr. Yi Shen, presented CCACC with a citation award, recognizing CCACC’s service in the community.

Montgomery County’s Councilmembers, Mr. Sidney Katz, Mr. Andrew Friedson, and Mr. Evan Glass, as well as Gaithersburg Council Vice President, Mr. Robert Wu, and Councilmembers Mr. Mike Sesma and Ms. Laurie-Anne Sayles expressed that they looked forward to working with CCACC in the future. They thanked CCACC for its efforts and for the services it has brought the community.

In addition, CCACC was fortunate enough to have representatives from major organizations be a part of its celebration. Therefore, CCACC would also like to thank Dr. Michael Lin, Ms. Cindy Shao, Mr. David Hull, Mr. Yuchen Yang, and Mr. Jay Sun for attending.

One of this year’s notable achievements was obtained by CCACC’s Pan-Asian Volunteer Health Clinic (PAVHC), which has been working to expand its service offerings and is now accepting Medicaid and Medicare as well as certain private insurance companies. PAVHC has been working hard on a “No Pain Initiative” in an attempt to target the ongoing opioid crisis as well as helping patients manage chronic pain. Their efforts and innovative ideas was recognized by Maryland, earning a $150,0002-year grant as well as being one of the three programs sponsored by Aetna Better Health. This recognition was placed on the stage for all to witness with Aetna representatives, Ms. Adelline Ntatin and Ms. Rebecca Floyd presenting to PAVHC an oversized check. Maryland’s Community Health Resources Commission also had its Vice Chair, Mrs. Elizabeth Chung, and Executive Director, Mr. Mark Luckner, congratulate CCACC on its efforts.

This success and recognition would not be possible without CCACC’s big family of hardworking staff, dedicated volunteers, and amazing members at that contribute to its success. As such, CCACC recognized its Outstanding Volunteers of the year during its Annual Meeting, thanking Dr. Chyang Fang. Mrs. Lily Fang, Mr. George Yu, Mrs. Shuwah Yu, Dr. Ling Chin, and Mrs. Pao Yu Tsai for their generous support of CCACC in the past year. Each of these volunteers donated their time to help CCACC reach more people and further its mission. On top of these outstanding volunteers, CCACC also recognized Emma Chen, Yu Kit Cheung, and Raymond Yu as its Outstanding Youth Volunteers, teens who have committed their time to community service.

CCACC ended its Annual Meeting with exciting performances from CCACC Youth Dragon Dance Team’s Little Dragon made up of kids grade 6 and under, CCACC’s Headquarter Evergreen Chinese Folk Dance Club made up of seniors, and two of CCACC’s newest clubs, Yaw-Yan Martial Arts and CCACC Madison Chinese Dance Study Group. Young and old, graceful and strong, non-Chinese speaking and Chinese-speaking, the variety in the performances showcased the diversity at CCACC and the various clubs and programs it offers the community.

The later half of the Anniversary Celebration was celebrated with CCACC’s first-ever Community Day event, where everyone including clubs, organizations, and vendors from the community were invited to participate. This was an opportunity for the community to witness the myriad of services in the area and get to learn more about CCACC and its clubs, as well as enjoy traditional Asian cuisine and other small treats. The event was a success as people flocked in to see the different booths, meet different clubs and organizations, and enjoy the various delicious foods from rice dumplings to beef noodle soup, popcorn chicken to tea eggs. Of course we can’t forget all the sweet desserts and Asian pastries!

The celebration came to a close as attendees left with happy tummies and smiles on their faces. At the same time, CCACC collected more than 100 bags of clothes to donate to those in need, hoping to bring warmth and smiles to more members of the community this coming Winter.