Skip to content

News & Insights|Event

PAIR Center Day of Service: Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia

September 4, 2024

Excerpt

PAIR Center Day of Service at the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia (CAGP)

The mission of CAGP is to improve the quality of life of Cambodian-Americans in Greater Philadelphia through direct service, advocacy and cultural education with the vision of empowering Cambodian-Americans to be productive and successful individuals in society at large.

The PAIR Center visited the CAGP location in South Philly to support their Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) project. VIP is geared toward amplifying the voice and visibility of Cambodian and Southeast Asian American community members impacted by the violence in Philadelphia. This program offers space for community members to share their stories and experiences with violence; provides multi-generational programming and safety workshops; connects accessible resources and supports that address fear and trauma; and uplifts the voices of the community in these matters as equal stakeholders.

Our group of volunteers assembled “calming care kits” and prepared the center for re-opening in the fall. The calming care kits contained elements to help regulate the body during stressful situations, including soothing scent sticks, textured items to feel and fidget with, comforting and culturally significant foods, and more. The kits will be given out after community members complete surveys for the project.

Thank you to our hosts Sarun Chan, Julia Zielinski, and Eddy Sacksith for having us!

Nine volunteers from the PAIR Center pose with VIP leaders Julia Zielinski and Eddy Sacksith in front of the CAGP South Philly Center.
PAIR Center volunteers with VIP leaders Julia Zielinski (back row, middle) and Eddy Sacksith (back row, right) in front of the CAGP South Philly Center.
Craig Kwiatkowski smiles through the glass door as he cleans it from the outside with a paper towel.
Craig Kwiatkowski cleans the front entrance to the South Philly Center.
Jasmine Silvestri and Brian Bayes smile at the camera while packing snacks into plastic bags.
Jasmine Silvestri and Brian Bayes assemble snack bags for the calming care kits.
Dorothy Sheu and Yingying Lu sit at a table making scent sticks.
Dorothy Sheu and Yingying Lu make the lavender scent sticks for the calming care kits.

Related News & Insights