Bringing Every Corner of Chinatown Together: Celebrating the Year of the Ox with Welcome to Chinatown
What does Chinatown mean to you? To us, it means many things — particularly, an opportunity to bridge generations together, build connection and celebrate Asian culture. There is so much to love and celebrate about Chinatown, which is why we are excited to announce our series of initiatives and events in celebration of the Year of the Ox, bringing every corner of Chinatown together. Read on to learn more about what we have in store.
“From Chinatown, With Love” Lunar New Year Calendar with Abrons Art Center and The W.O.W. Project
Together with Abrons Art Center and Wing on Wo’s the W.O.W. Project, we’re excited to launch our special edition 12-month Chinese photo calendar highlighting and supporting Chinatown’s local businesses, with photography and designs by photographer Mischelle Moy.
Why a calendar? Keeping with tradition of Chinese businesses giving away free yearly calendars at the start of a new year, this is our collaborative take on old meets new. Each participating business will receive these calendars, complimentary to them (with special thanks to Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Civic Practice Partnership Program for their promotional support and select printing efforts), as a way to help them drive foot traffic and sales to their business when it’s needed most.
Featuring 18 Chinatown small businesses and available free with every $20+ purchase at these participating businesses, we’re showcasing these corners of Chinatown that we love and the merchants who provide them. We’ve also created this Lunar New Year gift guide to shop in Chinatown like an insider — check it out!
Read more about the calendar and its availability here.
The Longevity Fund: Fundraising Update and Evolving Our Program
We are incredibly close to our fundraising goal of $200,000! A big thank you to everyone who has supported our small business grant and continues to help us spread the word of why Chinatown’s small businesses matter. You can learn more about our grant recipients through our Business Spotlights (check out the latest with Ben Meat Market here), and soon, we will introduce our Round 3 grant recipients.
We are with immense gratitude for every fundraiser, individual donor, corporate match and words of encouragement to bring The Longevity Fund to life, yet as we continue to learn more about the needs of the community and continued efforts required to help Chinatown remain sustainable as a cultural enclave, we’re excited to announce that we are evolving our Longevity Fund into both a grant and accelerator program, to create sustainable, long-term and meaningful business practices for small business owners through the accelerator program, while also continuing to provide an alternate source of revenue to address near-term challenges through The Longevity Fund.
We’ll be sharing more details on the accelerator program soon. Stay tuned!
Interested in collaborating with us to help us reach our fundraising goal or does your company have charitable giving to sponsor a grant? Reach out to us here: makeagift@welcometochinatown.com
Interested in learning more about or supporting our accelerator program? Reach out to us here: chinatown@welcometochinatown.com.
Made in Chinatown Lunar New Year Collection
Our merchandise line, Made in Chinatown, is releasing its Lunar New Year collection, featuring merch from:
NY Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club
Pre-orders will begin January 29. Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page to get the latest updates on the merchandise drop!
