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Message from the President
When we moved to Portland
three and a half years ago, the first contact I made was with the Chinese
Friendship Association of Portland (CFAP).
For over ten years, CFAP has served our community as an entry point to
newcomers, a congregation magnet to locals, a helping hand to the needy, and
a torch of Chinese culture. We gather
under the banner of CFAP to exchange practical information, seek friendship
and support from each other, share nostalgic sentiment and celebrate our
common heritage. Like sailors returning from arduous voyages, we find comfort and refuge in
the harbor of CFAP
time and again no matter how far we have traveled in life.
Thanks to a group of high-spirited volunteers, the past
and present Board of CFAP, who in the midst of juggling demanding careers and
a multitude of family responsibilities have made a conscious effort and
commitment to contribute valuable time, talents and skills to the welfare of
our community, CFAP has continued to function. Without any steady financial
resources, the Board has managed to run the organization on a shoestring and
strives to provide better services year after year.
In 2007, the Board has committed to bringing CFAP into the 21st
century by establishing the much-needed organizational infrastructure: an
interactive website with a member bulletin board, a membership tracking
database, and special interest groups that facilitate interactions among members. The obvious
obstacle to accomplishing such an ambitious goal is the lack of funding. While the Board will continue to solicit
donations from businesses, a large portion of the funding will unavoidably
have to come from members. Without the contribution of each and every member,
an organization simply cannot survive and thrive. After all, CFAP is a
member-founded organization to serve the needs of the members. We all have benefited from it one way or
another and felt the void in the absence of it. The social function that CFAP
provides is of value to many of us and yet, there is much more that can be
attained. Looking ahead, the Board intends to address a broader range of
needs expressed by our members such as: sports and fitness, parental resources and support, technical
assistance, health and wellness, business services, arts and hobbies, and
more. Step by step we shall provide better information and referral services
to newcomers and a wider variety of activities to entertain the diverse interests
of all members.
Therefore, a fee-based membership system will be
established this year. We invite our members to actively participate in the
transformation of our organization. As members of this community, it is in
our best interest to have a vibrant and cohesive organization to which we
belong, to which we come for enrichment of our lives, and upon which we can
call in times of crisis. Contributing
to such an organization is a noble cause and we can all take pride in doing
our part by: registering for
membership; making a donation; helping to set up an event; helping to clean
up after an event; and, expressing appreciations to the volunteers.
I would like to end this message with the well-known quote
of President John F. Kennedy: “ask not what your country can do for you; ask
what you can do for your country.” Let
us all ask ourselves what we can do to make our organization better and our
community stronger. Together we can
bring the best out of each other and fashion a proud society of our own.
-- Victoria Yu
Upcoming Events
 Save the dates for our upcoming
fun-filled as well as educational activities.
TBD
(April / May) -- Spring
Singing and Dance Party
June
23 -- Medical Seminar
August
25 -- Summer Picnic
September
8 -- Portland Chinese Open (Golf Tournament)
November
11 -- Ballroom Dance Party
2007 CFAP
Election Results
President: Victoria
Yu
Vice
President: James Huang
Vice
President: Lin Luo
Secretary: Mike
Zhang
Treasurer: Lin Luo
A Note from the Outgoing
President
Dear Fellow Members:
It is my honor as Immediate Past President
to acknowledge the achievements of the Association during the last 1+ year.
As the presidential conch shell is handed to
Victoria Yu (just as I had received it from Zifen Qian – the former President of CFAP) but before I fade
from memory, we confirm the Association’s achievements were due, as is true
of any organization, to the individual efforts of many gracious people.
Collectively, we have achieved our primary objective of enhancing our Association’s
visibility, organizing more activities and bringing our Association to a new
level.
Besides the traditional annual summer picnic
and Chinese New Year’s Party, we have launched the annual Portland Chinese
Open (Golf Tournament). PCO has been
successfully held twice and well attended by local Chinese golfers from all
backgrounds. The social dance parties
also attracted many people.
Organizing new seminars including the one
for Business Opportunities and Business Start-up has proved to be very welcome
by the members. Bringing new partners
such as Westside Dance and Gymnastics Academy into our performance party has reached the
society beyond the Chinese Community.
We maintained our strong partnership with
other local Chinese social and business associations. We were part of the recent effort to push
the City of Portland to remove the newly installed “Dragon
Sculpture” which failed to respect
our culture.
Our website expands continuously. We
frequently received interest in advertising in our website. Although Zhang Li
had handed off her responsibility as the website developer to Mike Zhang, she
will continue to earn our appreciation for developing the website and
increasing the visibility of our association.
Finally, our
sponsors have been a huge asset to our group. I would like to name a few,
such as Charlene Du (Previously Wells Fargo),
Ailing Shu (wells Fargo), Westside Dance Academy,
Arleen Tam (Farmer's Insurance), Tracy Ouyang, Iris
Zhao (CPA, PC) and Wong's King Resturant. Each of
them has taken an active interest in the success of the Association, asking
nothing in return.
I encourage and appreciate your continued
support to this largest local
Chinese organization. I urge you
continue to participate. Together we
make a difference!
As for me, it has been a great pleasure to
make the acquaintance of such a courageous, energetic, and pleasant group.
--
Hardy Li
New Board Members
Please join us in welcoming Ms. Mei Chen to the CFAP
Board. Mei currently works as a Real
Estate Broker/Realtor in the Portland
metro area. Previously, she worked in a
library in Somonauk,
IL
and taught English in a high school in Guangzhou,
China.
Call for Volunteers
CFAP is a non-profit organization run by
volunteers who are willing to contribute their time
to engage families and enrich community life.
As always, we seek willing candidates for various positions and
help. If you are interested in serving
on the board or offering any help, please contact us.
Editor’s Note 
The CFAP Newsletter is published
electronically as needs arise to disseminate information, such as upcoming
events or meetings that
are of interest to a broad range of the membership. If you would like to submit item(s) for
possible inclusion in a future issue of the newsletter, please send it to Jian Wang, the editor-in-chief at jian@pdx.edu.
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