
For Students, By Students
The Portledge Press
Asian Student Association
Fundraising Success
By Mason Lee

This year, the Asian Student Association, newly founded in the early fall of 2023, was able to successfully surpass standards and leave a contributing impact on a community in need. The co-founders of the club, Kyle Lee and Mason Lee, along with Vice Presidents of the club, Shanil Shah and Vihaan Pranav, endeavored to create a welcoming and safe space for all that aims to spread awareness of Asian culture and help address the political and social obstacles that Asian students are often forced to overcome. In fact, the mission of the Asian Student Association is “to celebrate and inform others on Asian culture, accomplishments, and the sociopolitical issues that Asians and Asian Americans often have to face.” The ASA also aspires to help students develop into future leaders who are not afraid to voice their opinions or express their ideas on the present issues in today’s society.
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In late January of 2024, the Asian Student Association’s student leaders, club faculty advisor, Ms. Wu, and committed members successfully organized a fundraiser event to support a non-profit organization called Apex for Youth. During several bi-weekly meetings throughout the school year, members of the Asian Student Association researched multiple non-profit organizations. Eventually, they came to the unanimous decision that they wanted to support Apex for Youth, a non-profit organization in New York City. Director Jennifer Li states that the organization “serves Asian American youth from low-income and immigrant households to help them obtain enrichment, mentoring, college access, scholarships, and many other opportunities.”
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With the dedication, contributions, and remarkable efforts of each member of the ASA, the Asian Student Association was able to raise over $1600 from their fundraising event, earning with their efforts the accomplishment of raising the largest amount of money from a single bake sale at Portledge School. President of the club, Kyle Lee, went on to state in an interview, “I really want to thank each and every one of our members, as well as Ms. Wu, for their hard work, dedication, and efforts. Everyone's contributions, whether bringing in an item, bringing in cash, or running the sale, made the fundraising event very successful. We really couldn’t have done it without them; they are what have made this club so successful and eye-catching this year.” One of the aspects of the ASA fundraiser that made the event extremely successful was the club’s unique decision to raise money through an Asian food sale rather than a typical bake sale. This decision not only exposed others to Asian culture and cuisine but also helped the club stand out from other ordinary fundraising events in the past. Fulfilling their promise, the ASA proceeded to donate all of their profits to Apex for Youth, making a contributing impact on not only the organization, but also the underprivileged Asian community as a whole.
