Our Six Month Financial Update: $250,000+ Back Into Chinatown
Six months, where does time go?
From the beginning (not that it was that long ago), we understood the importance of financial transparency, learning from our own questioning of why organizations are not more forthcoming with how our own personal dollars are put to work. We will continue to provide updates so you know exactly where your generous donations are being put toward.
It’s hard to believe we recently surpassed our first six months as a grassroots initiative. So much and so little seems to have changed. While we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, major economic loss, a continued fight for racial justice, political turmoil, natural disasters… we really had to take a step back to appreciate what is good in the world, and that starts with you, our donors. Together, we have put back more than $250,000 into Chinatown’s small businesses. Thank you.
Here’s a look at what we have accomplished together:
You’ve helped us raise money and inject alternative revenue forms into 4 different business types, reaching 43 businesses across Chinatown with 6 different high impact Welcome to Chinatown initiatives and 20+ collaborations with cultural institutions and organizations, filmmakers, employee resource groups, universities, museums, artists and more.
Here’s who you’ve supported so far:
Restaurants / Food & Beverage Establishments: 21 Shanghai House, 46 Mott Bakery, Asia Roma, Aux Epices, Cha Chan Tang, Fay Day Bakery, Fong On, Go Believe Bakery, Grand Seoul, Hop Kee Restaurant, Jing Fong, Kong Sihk Tong, Milk & Cream, My Food House, NB Wing Wong, Noree Food Bazaar, Nyonya, Ping’s Seafood Restaurant, Rabbit House, Sai Gon Dep, Soft Swerve, Taiwan Bear House, Thailicious, Tofu Tofu, Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodle, Wok Wok and Yi Fang Fruit Tea
Grocers and Goods Stores: Asian Veggies, Bangkok Center Grocery, Ewa Trading Co,, Grand Century Market, Grand Tea Imports, Season Natural Foods, Sun’s Organic Garden, Tokyo Mart
Retail: Dahing Plants, K.K. Discount Store, Wah Yeung (USA), Wing On Wo
Services: Imperial Ballroom Dance Studio, Joseph Li Creative, Mott Optical, Physio-Rehab
What does “back into Chinatown” actually mean?
It means the money that goes directly back into the hands of Chinatown’s small businesses. And we are obsessively intentional with where we funnel donations to. Whether it be meal purchases for those in-need, services like printing physical grant application forms or Black Lives Matter posters from local print shops (h/t to Joseph Li Creatives on Centre Street!) to materials purchased for an initiative (Those great lanterns from our In the Mood for Food Block Walk? From Wing on. Wo. and Co! Those delicious bubble tea mochis in our Chinatown Theatre Deluxe Snack Boxes? From Grand Century Market!) — it is important to us that we bear in mind where we use every dollar to contribute back to Chinatown’s ecosystem.
We also want to make an important note that we do accumulate operational expenses. These are things like website maintenance fees, platform fees for using GoFundMe, administrative fees to our fiscal sponsor, Players Philanthropy Fund, etc. We are happy to report that we are able to keep our operational expenses about 10% (the average for a nonprofit is ~40%), and we do our best to minimize operational expenses where possible.
All this to say, you may be wondering what’s next for us. We still have more in store because the road to recovery is long, so stay tuned for updates on our channels. As a young organization, we have been spending a lot of time thinking about the direction of Welcome to Chinatown and where we go next as we continue to learn and listen to the needs of the community, while also taking care of ourselves too (it’s a pandemic after all!). We are incredibly grateful for any donations you make to support our cause, including our big fundraising initiative, The Longevity Fund, where we’re still about $100,000 to go to help Chinatown’s most at-risk businesses.
As we reflect on what we have learned in the last six months (which is a LOT), we are thankful for the many supporters and advisors along the way. We hope to count you in as we continue on in supporting Chinatown, a neighborhood that means so much to us.
Signed from Chinatown,
Vic, Jen and the Welcome to Chinatown team
