MOST OUTSTANDING PHILANTHROPIC EVENT NOMINEE
vietnamese student association at Louisiana state university
CPP Shirt Sales
Provide a detailed description of the event and the population it served. Details MUST include: date of event, number of participants, program purpose (goals, objectives, etc.), use of resources (finances, community support, etc.), marketing techniques, and amount fundraised.
Of the potential philanthropic events that VSA-LSU has hosted this year, the most distinguished and cherished event, which was not only acclaimed by members within the organization but also individuals residing in various different states, includes the production of t-shirts for the Collective Philanthropy Project. During this process of crafting a design, filming an advertisement video, and holding sales for the t-shirts, members of the VSA-LSU Executive Board involved numerous general members for this project to produce one of the most highly coveted pieces of merchandise that this organization has constructed.
In the design phase of this project, VSA-LSU’s Graphic Designer, Judy Kong, employed the opinions of other executive board members into the final product, which depicts a glass of Vietnamese iced coffee with a coffee drip on the top of it and includes the words “Too Much Drip.” Although this charcoal t-shirt displays a minimalistic design on the back and the sole VSA-LSU logo on the front pocket of the shirt, the design implements a fusion of cultural and modern elements of Vietnamese society. It illustrates a widely renowned, traditional Vietnamese beverage as a subtle cultural detail in addition to a phrase that is very prevalent in modern society by utilizing the wordplay of “drip.”
Additionally, the advertisement of the t-shirts demonstrated the sense of community that VSA-LSU has to offer. VSA-LSU’s Historian, Steven Truong, masterfully filmed and edited a video that was used to announce the sales of this new philanthropic product. Hastily gathering general members to plan individual and group shoots before the COVID-19 pandemic officially closed down LSU’s campus required extreme levels of coordination and teamwork to accomplish. As seen by the high quality of production of the video, the t-shirts were successfully advertised and reached out to a large number of individuals, one of which was from Michigan.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the CPP shirts includes the physical sales of the shirts. After a thorough process of establishing a design and filming an advertisement, VSA-LSU sold a total of 72 shirts, which totaled to approximately $1800, which does not include some of the future sales that may occur. In addition, all of the proceeds from this product will be donated to the Collective Philanthropy Project. Although some other organizations may be able to donate immense sums of money, philanthropy does not solely involve monetary value as it involves promoting the welfare of others in desperate situations. Therefore, by establishing a sense of wholeness and cooperatively within the VSA-LSU community to obtain the goal of aiding those in need through the Collective Philanthropy Project, this event is ultimately VSA-LSU’s most outstanding philanthropic event.
What efforts were used to motivate and involve the organization's members?
*See above.
How did the organization overcome any challenges that arose while planning and implementing the event?
*See above.