2024 Year-End Letter from the President
First of all, our beautiful Tucson Chinese Cultural Center is 20 years old.
Many of us, including Chinese School students, people live in Tucson and Southern Arizona communities and so on, have spent much wonderful and unforgettable time here. Meanwhile, 20 years is the age when buildings start showing their age. That’s certainly been true for us. This year we had to replace all 15 air conditioning units at a total cost of more than $150,000, a project that was much-needed but ate up a good chunk of our reserve funds.
Second, I’m very proud to say that our programs are going strong:
Chinese School: We have over 100 students enrolled in our Tucson Chinese School, with students ranging from young children to adults, all improving their ability to read, write and speak Mandarin.
Tina Liao, President of the Tucson Chinese Association
Lion Dance: Our Lion Dance Troupe is thriving, with growth in the number of participants and in the number of invitations they received to perform throughout the year in Tucson and elsewhere in Arizona.
Field trips: More than 5,000 students attended school field trips to the TCCC this year to learn about Chinese culture, traditions, language, and Southern Arizona Chinese history.
Asian Health & Wellness: About 60 seniors visit the TCCC each week for Tai Chi classes, pickle ball, calligraphy and Mahjong.
Grants:
• This is our third year as recipient of a grant from the National Institute of Health Asian Health Coalition for the ALL OF US Research Project.
• We continue to collaborate with AARP, the University of Arizona, Banner-University Medical Center and OLLI-UA to improve our collective health.
• We hosted a Fall Prevention Fair and Asian Health Fair as part of this work.
• We also received a local grant from the Las Donas de Los Descendientes del Presidio de Tucson for preservation of Tucson’s shared Chinese and Mexican History.
History:
• The TCCC is a community partner in a recently completed project of the Arizona State Museum and the University of Arizona Center for Digital Humanities, called Discovering Community in the Borderlands. The program places student-developed augmented reality sites accessible by smartphone around town, providing short history lessons where the history took place.
• TCCC’s sites are inside TCCC (about the Chinese School); on the plaza just northeast of the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall at the Tucson Convention Center (commemorating the Chinese community hub demolished in Tucson’s Urban Renewal); 1021 W. Delaware Street, at the former Alan’s Market; 103 N. Park Ave. Unit 100, at Screwbean Brewing, former site of the Lim You Market; and New Empire, Market, 526 E 9th Street. Find a complete overview of the project is at https://dcb.arizona.edu/
Events:
• Our TCCC is a popular venue for our own events and for those hosted by many community groups.
• Other than celebrate the Lunar New Year, July 4th, and Mid Autumn Festival, we hosted a movie event, a tour for the Tucson Society of the Blind, and participated in the Chinese Chorizo Festival with a tasting and talks by local Chinese grocery store owners.
• We are most proud of our Chinese New Year events, and we look forward to seeing you at our Annual Gala on Feb. 8 and our community New Year Celebration on Feb. 15.
Last, but not least, we see an exciting future ahead, but we need your help to meet current and future financial challenges on our way there. As you can see, good things are happening with the Tucson Chinese Association and our excellent programming is getting even better. We need your continued help and donations to continue that growth, to replenish our reserve funds and to make much-needed repairs to a leaking roof, damaged walls and more at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center.
Please use this link to make your 2024 year-end donations, or find the donation box down below. You can donate to the overall operation (our greatest needs) or direct it to a particular program. Once again this year, all donors will be recognized on the Donation Honor Roll of the TCCC website. Your donations are greatly appreciated and we thank you in advance!
I wish you all a happy holiday season, followed by plenty of health, peace, and prosperity in the coming Year of the Snake.
Sincerely and Warmly,
Tina Liao
President of Tucson Chinese Association
Send check donations to:
Make out to: Tucson Chinese Association
Mail to: Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 W River Rd, Tucson, AZ 85704
