During Lunar New Year, my teammates from Shine-A-Light Volunteer Team and I volunteered to promote Chinese culture and celebrate the new year.
We held our first celebration at the Acton Memorial Library two weeks before the Lunar New Year. We set up some stations there and, at the beginning of the event, we presented an informational slideshow made by my friend Yoyo, the team’s vice president, about Chinese culture. I had a table where children were able to take a red envelope that had ancient Chinese coins inside. The children would then match the coins to determine the value and see how many jolly ranchers they would get, learning about the ancient currency in China. My dad invented the red envelope game. There were several other stations in the room hosted by my teammates, such as calligraphy, zodiac riddles, and lion dancing, all providing an opportunity for participants to learn about Chinese culture. It was also kind of exasperating because my team members kept stealing candy from me, but I’m just glad everyone had a good time.
A week later, three volunteers from our team and I went to another celebration which was a tea party hosted by The Acton Chinese American Civic Society (ACACS). Maureen and Katie, from Acton-Boxborough United Way, came to share about their volunteer program. We packaged more than three hundred goodie bags filled with delicious snacks for senior citizens. Each bag had a red inscription of “Happy Chinese New Year!” and was packaged with our best wishes.
Another event we volunteered for was at the Acton Chinese Language School. We had similar activities there. Children were able to write their Chinese names and spin a wheel to earn a prize. There was a skittle-chopstick competition and Chinese zodiac quiz that were hosted by other team members. I got to eat tanghulu, a Chinese snack that is basically hawthornes coated in sugar and put on a stick. Just imagine a kabob of small, round, red fruits.
The final event we were invited to was at Westford Academy. It was on the first day of the New Year, year of the dragon. We prepared our signature activities there, but I also got to explore other stations that other groups had set up and enjoy Chinese food from Sichuan Palace with my teammates. Volunteers at one table made balloon dogs and flowers, and those at another sold books relating to the Lunar New Year. There was also a dragon dance, where guests at the event were invited to walk around the gym waving a constructed dragon’s body in the air. The evening ended with a show by the Chelmsford Chinese Language School and invited performers.
Joanna Dong is an eighth grader in the Acton-Boxborough schools.
