LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Lamorinda Chinese-Americans deliver lunches to frontline health workers during Chinese New Year


Young artists in the community produced artwork and cards for project. Photos provided

For many Chinese-Americans in the Lamorinda area, finding ways to support the frontline workers in the battle against COVID-19 has been their mission during this unprecedented pandemic.

With the vaccines recently becoming available to the public, the admin for the Lamorinda Neighbors WeChat Group, Ye Liu and Alice Zhang, learned that all the vaccination sites are always so busy with high demands that a decent lunch break is rare. Zhang proposed that they use the leftover funds from an earlier PPP outreach effort last March to order lunch boxes for the health workers at the vaccine sites in Contra Costa County as a way to express their gratitude and support.

As Chinese New Year was quickly approaching, Zhang also suggested adding elements from Chinese culture, such as red envelopes, to the lunchboxes. Ye relayed this idea to the fund's volunteer accountant, Hongyu Wang, and the director of a local afterschool program, Aoqi Feng. She received enthusiastic responses from both women - Wang confirmed they had enough funds for over 200 lunch boxes and Feng volunteered to call for young artists in the community to produce decorations and artwork for this project.

After outreach to secure approval from the site coordinators, six vaccine sites were identified as the lunchbox recipients: Tice Valley Community Gym in Walnut Creek, DVC in Concord, Nick Rodriguez Community Center in Antioch, Pittsburg Health Center, West Contra Costa County Regional Hospital in San Pablo, and Miller Wellness Center in Martinez. Zhang designed the main decoration using red envelopes. On Feb. 7, Feng coordinated a group of young artists who gathered at Commons Park and decorated enough red envelopes. The children enjoyed the project so much that they even painted many beautiful pictures for the health workers to say "Thank you!"

After Alice ordered 250 or so lunchboxes from Oakland Bloom, 14 volunteers were recruited through WeChat and the action date was set for the Chinese New Year. The delivery group was known as the "Blessed Lunchbox Action Team," as each lunchbox had a sticker of the Chinese character meaning "blessing" on top, besides the red envelope with a golden-foil wrapped chocolate inside. All the volunteers showed up on Feb. 12, the first day of the Lunar New Year, in their elegant traditional Chinese outfits, some also with their children and family, joyfully distributing the decorated lunch boxes to the vaccine sites.

For all, the appreciation they received from the health workers was overwhelming and rewarding, and all the volunteers also expressed how very meaningful this Chinese New Year was for them.