Aguman Capampangan Northwest U.S.A. (AR Photo/Jan Landis)

Chinese American Citizens Alliance - Portland Lodge. (AR Photo/Jan Landis)

Lac Hong Vietnamese School. (AR Photo/Jan Landis)

From The Asian Reporter, V27, #10 (May 15, 2017), page 9.

Aguman Capampangan Northwest U.S.A., which was founded in 1996 as a social club for Pampangans, is a nonprofit Filipino-American organization based in Portland that promotes Kapampangan and Filipino culture, serves the northwest community, and supports the Philippines through humanitarian work. The organization raises funds through yearly Christmas carolling and a lu’au dinner and dance event, the most recent of which boasted more than 500 attendees. Aguman promotes culture by holding Santa Cruzan events and an annual La Naval Fiesta celebration. The organization sent its tenth mission to the Philippines this past February, providing more than 3,500 people with medical and dental services as well as distributing relief goods in the form of rice, canned food, noodles, slippers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and more to people in need in Pampanga province. In addition to its work in the Philippines, Aguman also provides assistance locally by feeding homeless people in the Portland area. To learn more, visit <www.agumancapampangan.org>.

The Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.) was founded in 1895 in San Francisco as a social club and a national non-partisan organization advocating for Chinese-American empowerment and community service. The Portland chapter — which was established in 1921 — has a membership mailing list of 175. C.A.C.A. Portland has a three-fold mission: to develop leadership, serve the community, and promote civil rights. To this end, the organization hosts the annual Asian American Youth Leadership Conference as well as an annual retreat; awards scholarships to high school seniors; promotes civic engagement with voter registration, ballot measure education, and translating ballots; offers alcohol-server education classes in Mandarin and Cantonese; supports youth basketball with two teams, the Dragons and Tsunamis; donates gift cards to seniors at the Asian Health & Service Center; and many other community-oriented activities. To learn more, visit <www.cacaportland.org>.

The Lac Hong Vietnamese School was formed in 2004 to promote and preserve Vietnamese culture, to mentor youth, and to facilitate cooperation among Vietnamese Americans. The language school, which started with 88 students at its inception, has grown to an enrollment of more than 200 students from Pre-K to level seven, who take classes in the Vietnamese language, culture, dance, LEGO robotics, lion dance, and art. The classes, taught by 58 active volunteer teachers, meet at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus on Saturday afternoons. In the past year, students at Lac Hong Vietnamese School have performed cultural dances at community events, including Culture Days at Washington Square mall and the Vietnamese Community of Oregon’s Lunar New Year celebration. The organization also supports Tieng Hoai Huong, a music group promoting and teaching Asian traditional instruments; True Connection; the Portland State University Vietnamese Student Association; the Asian American Youth Leadership Club at David Douglas High School; Vietnamese Scouts; and the Vietnamese Community of Oregon. In addition, the school also holds a Volunteer Day to support the local Oregon Food Bank. To learn more, visit <www.vscso.org>.