Vietnamese American Coalition (VAC)
Cultural Awareness and Community Service
Every year, the Vietnamese American Coalition (VAC) hosts three main events: the Annual Little Saigon Clean-Up, Shadow Day, and Black April Commemoration.
Annual Events
In response to a newspaper article naming Little Saigon as “one of the worst tourist attractions” due to its uncleanliness, the Vietnamese American Coalition (VAC) hosts its annual Little Saigon Clean-Up every Fall. College and high school students, along with community leaders, come together at this event to show the community that there exist students who care enough to help spread awareness of the problem. Now, years later, Little Saigon is a much cleaner place thanks to everyone's combined effort.
This event has come to serve a greater purpose for both college and high school students involved. It allows them the opportunity to learn about their community, about initiative, about friendship and most importantly, they learned about the inner strength and resiliency which lies at the heart of the Vietnamese American experience. Through a simple and humble gesture of cleaning up litter, students are given opportunities to make connections with the community so that they can reach their highest potentials as productive and caring citizens contributing to a greater and more inclusive America.
Shadow Day is a day dedicated to high school students from all over Orange County. Every Winter, students are invited to tour UC Irvine and experience a day of college life.
With the purpose of encouraging students to pursue higher education, the Vietnamese American Coalition (VAC) and other college campus organizations work together to provide the youths fun and informative workshops to help foster that development. What makes VAC’s Shadow Day different from other college campus tours is the level of intimacy involved. Prospective students get to interact directly with college students, and get information on what college life is really like. So come and tell it like you see it, and help brace the next generation of collegiate students for the fun that is college.
Black April Commemoration is an event held every Spring in honor of the memory of the Fall of Saigon.
In today’s fast-paced and multitasking world, we often forget bout the adversity that our predecessors had to endure to get us here today. In 2007, VAC held their first Black April Commemoration to allow us to pause and reflect on our experiences and learn more about the Vietnam War. It allows us to show appreciation for those who endured the war and its aftermath, as well as the desire for more dialogue so the experiences and memories of the war will not be forgotten.
Interested in getting involved? Contact Us! Our events are open to everyone!