Asian Youth Center (AYC)

Asian Youth Center invites you to take part in our Spring campaign to honor Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month and uplift the work that AYC has been doing. Spring is a symbol of not only new beginnings but continuous growth. We invite you to grow with us, as we expand our programs to meet the needs of the community. 

In March 2020, AYC scaled up our Emergency Food Program, which distributes bags of groceries, with enough fresh and non-perishable food items to make 30 meals, to low-income, immigrant families in the San Gabriel Valley, as well as providing personal protective equipment (PPE), hygiene products, and household supplies upon request. The program existed before the pandemic and served 60 families per month. Since 2020, the program has expanded nearly ten times its original capacity, now serving over 500 families per month. 

In March 2021, as a direct response to address the uptick in anti-Asian hate incidents all over the U.S., AYC integrated Stop Hate Projects into our Community Outreach and Education programs, which included facilitating Chinese language Bystander Intervention Trainings in partnership with Asian Americans Advancing Justice- Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA) to the Chinese speaking population in Los Angeles County. In another partnership with Advancing Justice-LA, AYC also administered a needs survey that reached over 23,000 Asian American community members in the SGV and garnered over 300 responses about experiences with racism, harassment, and perceptions about safety and community-driven solutions. AYC continues to partner with local organizations, such as LA vs Hate, to coordinate projects surrounding the struggle against anti-Asian hate. 

In March 2022, AYC started our COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics at Smith Park as an extension of the COVID-19 Education and Outreach that started in 2020, which seeks to bring accurate and linguistically competent data and information to immigrant populations regarding safety and health policies related to COVID-19. AYC will be continuing to partner with community health organizations such as Garfield Health Center to bring free vaccinations to community members, as well as free testing kits. 

Can you help us keep growing? AYC is continuously responding to community needs, now exacerbated more than ever by the pandemic, and we need your help to ensure that this work is not only sustained but nourished by community support, either through monetary donations, in-kind donations, or volunteering. 

Your $50 gift provides free COVID-19 vaccines at monthly mobile clinics 

Your $100 gift covers two hours of COVID-19 Education & Outreach. 

Your $500 gift feeds 25 families experiencing food insecurity. 

Your $1,000 gift will help reach 1,000 community members with Stop Hate Community Outreach 

There are many ways you can support, by visiting our website at www.aycla.org/donate to make a gift, by participating in the Give in May campaign or by joining us for a virtual cooking class benefit on Friday, May 6th from 3pm – 4pm hosted by FamilyStyleLA and featuring Chef Jazz Singsanong from the famous Los Angeles Thai Restaurant Jitlada! All ticket proceeds will go to supporting AYC’s programs and services.