Empower and educate community members against the tide of hate incidents, crimes, and violence against the Asian American community by partnering with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles.

The Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA), recognized as the first Asian Pacific American bar association in the country, originally launched the SCCLA Cares fundraising campaign in May 2020 in response to the economic, emotional, and physical toll of Covid-19. We directed 100% of donations to purchase meals from local restaurants or food trucks to feed our community, such as frontline healthcare workers, the elderly, school-aged children, people experiencing housing and food insecurity, and many others. When we started SCCLA Cares, we had no end date in mind, and we are so grateful to the 139 donors who joined us over seven months to raise $8,256 to provide 1,060 hot meals.

Almost exactly a year after we started, we are relaunching SCCLA Cares throughout May 2021, in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This time, our goal is to empower and educate community members against the tide of hate incidents, crimes, and violence against the Asian American community by partnering with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - LA. As this issue is deeply important and personal to us, the members of the SCCLA Board of Governors have pledged to match donations up to $3,500 and hope you'll join us in making an impact.

WAYS YOUR DONATION CAN MAKE AN IMPACT:

$10 supports transportation stipends for staff and volunteers who will be participating in community canvassing efforts about Advancing Justice-LA's services, including victim support and legal clinics

$25 covers cost of printing 100 translated flyers informing our community about our victim services and legal support

$50 sponsors an Anti-Asian Hate Bystander Intervention training for 10 community members

$100 covers legal consultation fees for a low-income client who is a victim of an anti-Asian hate incident

$250 covers cost of a social media boost to reach 6,000 more people
(equivalent to the population of two high schools)

$500 provides a Know Your Rights presentation to 50 community members

$7,000 covers cost of a social and ethnic media boost that could reach over 145,000 more people (roughly the population size of Torrance, Pasadena, or City of Orange)

Program Background

Bystander Training Program:

Advancing Justice-LA's bystander training program will offer free virtual sessions to the general public starting May 17, 2021. Bystander intervention equips everyday people with effective methods to safely assist community members during and following an incident, either online or in-person.

In partnership with nonprofit Hollaback!, Advancing Justice – LA’s sessions will be facilitated by staff trainers who will be a mix of bilingual and English-speaking and will serve predominantly the Southern California community. Nationally, three other affiliated organizations (in Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC) within the same civil rights network offer training sessions.

The creation of Advancing Justice – LA’s program expands the accessibility of these highly-sought sessions to more individuals and groups. Cultural, historical and geographical references will set the LA-based training apart, along with delivering training in various Asian languages. Within the region, Advancing Justice – LA will prioritize further outreach and training curriculum updates to appeal to first-generation immigrants, youth in schools, and the elderly. Sessions will be initially held virtually and then in combination with in-person training as Covid-19 restrictions allow.

Registration is free online at https://AdvancingJustice-LA.org/bystander-interven...

PSA:

In conjunction with the virtual training sessions, Advancing Justice – LA will release an animated public service announcement video which introduces and educates viewers on safe intervention as means of ‘taking action.’ The video encourages the public to play a role in keeping their communities safe using the “5 Ds of bystander intervention”--distract, delegate, delay, direct and document.

To inform as many community members as possible on how to be a safe bystander, Advancing Justice – LA is creating and distributing the video in English and five Asian languages. The PSA will air on social media platforms, television stations, and radio throughout Southern California. With the goal of reaching 200,000 people and 25 million media impressions, Advancing Justice – LA’s distribution and marketing efforts will include a significant focus on multi-language ethnic audiences.

The video is narrated by actor/comedian/physician Ken Jeong and features the iconic work of award-winning illustrator James Yang. Advancing Justice – LA is one of the nation’s largest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. They are one of the five independently run organizations that comprise the powerful network Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AdvancingJustice.org)

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - LA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization. This contribution is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution. For tax purposes, Advancing Justice - LA’s tax identification number is 95-3854152.