Gum Moon/AWRC, WuYee-Joy Lok Family Resource Center, and APA Family Services jointly welcomed families with children 0-5 and 5-12+ to a fun and exciting carnival block party sponsored by San Francisco Development of Early Childhood, on Friday, April 28th in Waverly Pl, Chinatown. Over 520 people with 310 kids came out and enjoyed games and crafts prepared by parents as well as performances by a juggler and a clown, children-disco-dance, GuZheng children's performance, and a children's lion dance! People had so much fun that they stayed until the very last minute of the fair!

Teacher Elizabeth Siu at Gum Moon fondly talks about the impact of summer school programs during COVID-19 which are supported by the funds raised each year.

"I was an instructor for Gum Moon during the summer of 2020. Being able to teach here made my summer! I am so grateful for the opportunity to meet all the wonderful students and helping them through this pandemic.

We're sharing a wondering story written by a parent from one of our programs at Gum Moon in our C Class which your donations will support. Here's a short excerpt:

"Thank goodness for Gum Moon

Children at Gum Moon are like saplings

We follow our Teachers guidance and

Everyone laughs together"

A warm story from the children we serve in our programs.

The murder of George Floyd and the resulting protests and additional information that has come to light about the terrible treatment of Black individuals, at the hands of the police and others, has helped us better understand the severity of what our Black community is going through, as well as the urgency needed to make sweeping legal and cultural changes to value and respect Black lives. 

So much has changed over the past month. We've seen beauty in the solidarity of staying home and staying safe, and we are so grateful that as a state our numbers have remained at a manageable level for our healthcare system and for the safety of all of us. Yet for some of us, staying safe from COVID-19 has resulted in lost jobs and lost wages and a great deal of hardship.

In 2012, Lucy immigrated from Indonesia with her two-year-old son to be with her husband in the U.S. Her husband was determined to build a better life for their family. Lucy was reluctant to leave everyone and everything she knew behind, but made the move after her husband had settled into his job and found them a place to live.

“My husband didn’t care if I was alive,” says Sriyanta. “I slept on the living room floor and worked at Macy’s and tutored the neighbor’s children. I felt helpless and powerless.”