CAMHN Scholarship Fundraiser: Sunday 3/7/2004

[Chester]

It's very short notice, but the Chinese American Mental Health Network is doing a fundraiser this upcoming Sunday in Fremont/Newark.

The CAMHN is trying to raise money in order to endow scholarships to promote graduate-level students focusing on mental health and, overall, tries to raise awareness of mental health issues within and without the Chinese American community.

This event is featuring a bunch of prominent local Chinese Americans performing skits...
- Leland Yee, California State Assemblyman
- Alice Lai-Bitker, Alameda County Supervisor
- Fiona Ma, San Francisco City Supervisor
- Mabel Teng, San Francisco City Assessor
- Danny Wan, Oakland City Councilman
- And others...

There will also be a screening of an interview with Ge-ling Yen, the author of The Lost Daughter of Happiness. (I liked it as something that featured San Francisco history, but didn't like it much as a novel.) And, more topically, Dr. May Lu (columnist for the World Journal) will deliver a keynote regarding "the most common marital, family and relationship problems among Asian Americans."

It's a fundraiser and it ain't cheap ($75), but if you're interested, here are some links...

[Info on the Event]

[Info on CAMHN's Scholarship Efforts]

I will probably be there for at least part of the time...

[Chester]

Originally Posted by Chester

The CAMHN is trying to raise money in order to endow scholarships to promote graduate-level students focusing on mental health and, overall, tries to raise awareness of mental health issues within and without the Chinese American community.

Fun event. Chiachia Chien got a bunch of politicos out to support the organization and to brave the stage in funny skits...

First Attachment: Leland Yee (CA State Assemblyperson) and Alice Lai-Bitker (Alameda County Supervisor) in a skit about a couple with a troubled son.

Second Attachment: All the politicians and community leaders who acted on stage, plus others who helped to put on the event:
- Leland Yee (fifth from left)
- Alice Lai-Bitker (sixth from left)
- Cynthia Lee (fifth from right): wife of the Taiwanese Economic Consul (something like that)
- Mabel Teng (fourth from right): SF City Assessor
- Danny Wan (third from right): Oakland City Councilperson
- Fiona Ma (second from right): SF City Councilperson
- Chiachia Chien (far right): President of the CAMHN

The bulk of the program was devoted to recognizing all the various contributors to the CAMHN. The Zellerbach Foundation apparently devoted the lion's share of the initial funding, and there were notable contributions by Wells Fargo, Bank of America, World Journal, KTSF, and quite a few others.

They also brought out four or five of the graduate-level students who have won scholarships to help them in their psychology/psychiatry/social work studies, which has encouraged them to use their bilingual/cultural skills to help Asian Americans in the Bay Area.

Geling Yan (The Lost Daughter of Happiness) was also in attendance with her husband. She's served as a prominent spokesperson for the organization, stepping up to talk about how she is bipolar and how the organization has helped put her in touch with professionals to help her manage her condition.

But the best thing was the skits -- all these locally-prominent politicians...I was surprised at how well everyone did...they had the crowd rolling.