On April 10th, under the leadership of the founding president Ren Phoebe, the California Chinese Women’s Business and Enterprise Management Association (CWBAC) made a visit to the La Casa Community Center for Early Childhood Education in San Gabriel. La Casa is a childcare center that provides preschool education for low-income families.
During the visit, Julietta Perez, the Executive Director of La Casa, along with Denise Menchaca, the board chair and current Vice Mayor of San Gabriel, and Carina Rivera, the vice chair and former council member of San Gabriel, personally welcomed the group at the school gate and guided them around the campus.
Before lunch, the children performed two classic nursery rhymes under an outdoor canopy, which received high praise from the audience. Ren Phoebe, on behalf of the association, donated 110 gift bags containing children’s clothing, pants, colorful crayons, bracelets, bottles, candies, baby supplies, and household items.
Perez was deeply moved and expressed her hope for continued support from the association to help the children from low-income families grow.
Ren Phoebe mentioned that CWBAC had participated in fundraising activities for the kindergarten years ago, where she was impressed by the free enrollment provided to preschool children from low-income families. Recently learning about the financial difficulties faced by the school due to the pandemic, leading to the necessity of charging fees, combined with the discovery of outdated classrooms and restrooms during the visit, she appealed to the community for assistance.
Through this act of warmth, Ren Phoebe hopes to draw attention from the community and other organizations to the current state of education for children from low-income families. She emphasized, “Our group of 30 women cannot save the world, but we can focus on one or two organizations in need and support one or two activities on a long-term basis. Let a small light shine brightly in some corner of the universe; a small light never dies, and kindness lasts forever.”
Established in Los Angeles in May 2017, CWBAC is a government-registered 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. The parent organization, CWBA, was founded in Taipei in 1980 and currently has branches in over ten countries worldwide. Members who participated in the donation activity have committed to providing both financial and volunteer support. Chairwoman Xing Li promised to continue arranging for more donation activities, while Vice President Lillian Lida pledged to donate fire doors and other supplies for the school’s renovation.