GALLERY: Orchid Giving Circle
Orchid Giving Circle at Texas Women’s Foundation had much to celebrate at its Grantee Celebration on Oct. 2 at Toyota’s headquarters in Plano.
The Giving Circle celebrated its fifth year by distributing $219,500 in grants to 14 nonprofit organizations to benefit the North Texas Asian community.
Orchid Giving Circle at Texas Women’s Foundation is a group of Asian women who work together, pool their resources and leverage their networks to award community grants that support social change and services benefitting the North Texas Asian community. Orchid members, representing a wide range of Asian cultures, ages, ethnicities and professions, have a goal to increase awareness of the local Asian population, their community needs and philanthropic opportunities.
Cynthia Yung, Orchid Giving Circle Co-chair, welcomed members and supporters. She gave an update of the organization and its growth: “From when we started in 2015 with a handful of members, to almost 60 members today, we’ve grown in numbers and collective impact. Our grants help support the underserved community of North Texas Asians, and for that, I’m thankful to all of you who support us with your treasure, talent and time. Also a special thanks to Texas Women’s Foundation for its tremendous support and to Toyota Motor North America for hosting us.” She also extended thanks to Alpha Graphics and Weber Shandwick for their support of Orchid Giving Circle.
Orchid Giving Circle members wore white, purple and yellow to commemorate the suffrage centennial; women in Texas received the right to vote in state primaries in 1919 and the 19th Amendment was passed in the U.S. in 1920. To demonstrate the right-to-vote timeline, a group of men and women spoke about the history of voting in America, highlighting dates when various populations of whites and non-whites received the right to vote.
The program included grant distributions to 14 deserving nonprofits:
• Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIA): Scholarships
• Catholic Charities Diocese of Fort Worth: Refugee Match Grant Program
• Chetna – Program Expansion: Domestic violence survivor support
• Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas: The Next 20
• Dallas Chinese Community Center: “Inspire Asians to Move Up” economic programs
• Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: Exhibition – Asian American Rights strand in the Pivot to America Wing
• DFW Hub Center for Health: Physical and mental health programs for Asian women
• Healing Hands Ministries, Inc.: Medical, dental and behavioral healthcare for Asian women
• Heart House: Head, Heart, and Hands (H3) Program to empower refugee children
• Ignite: Building Political Power in Asian American Young Women
• Mosaic Family Services Inc.: Refugee Health Access Program
• Senior Citizens of Greater Dallas Inc. dba Senior Source: Foster Grandparent Program
• Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation Inc.: Peace in the Home – Culturally Specialized Family Violence Program (PIH-DV)
• Vickery Meadow Learning Center dba Literacy Achieves: Family Literacy Program at Vickery Meadow
(Photos by Kris Ikejiri)
