Aloha HCJ Friends & Family,
Often times I (and I’m sure you too at some point) get asked about who the Honolulu Chinese Jaycees are and what we do. It’s true that there isn’t a niche that our organization fits into. While our signature projects are the Healthy Baby Contest and providing support for the annual Night in Chinatown celebrations, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Miss Chinatown Hawaii Festival, the Honolulu Chinese Jaycees also gets their hands dirty with a variety of service projects, socials, and individual development opportunities.
Each President has their own interpretation, but I believe that as a membership-driven organization the Honolulu Chinese Jaycees are a group of active and civic-minded individuals who really just want to “do good” in the community and in each other’s lives.
Do good in the community and in each other’s lives
These activities can range from professional development trainings such as our Project Management Guide workshops, which mains to hone members’ project management skills and planning mindset, to personal improvement lessons and mentorships guided by Past Presidents and “Old-timers,” our supporting group of “roostered” or aged-out members who still generously devote their time and energy to the Jaycee membership.
Our service projects and social activities encompass a wide variety of things too: our members are given the opportunity to either plan their own service project of choice or to coordinate groups of members to support outside community work, like with the Hawaiian Humane Society and American Diabetes Association. Likewise, we send delegations to support local Chinese/Chinatown activities and host our own BBQ and hot pot socials for our members to pau hana.
Each year also brings about its own programming, and I attribute that to our members as well. Each year’s membership brings with them different aspirations and interests that manifest through the projects that we host each year–no one year has the same exact programming.
What’s your take on the Honolulu Chinese Jaycees? As a member or supporter of our organization, what do you think defines a member of the GREAT Honolulu Chinese Jaycees? Feel free to share your thoughts, reflections, and memories of the past, present, and future work that our chapter has and will accomplish.
Have a peaceful, pensive rest of your day,