LYF Fall 2016 Newsletter – Issue No. 16

LYF Camp 2016 showed us that leaders come in various shapes and forms, so we hope that you’ve all continued to develop your own individual leadership styles and found ways to apply them in your day-to-day lives. Now as we head into the festive season, make sure to mark your calendars and take advantage of these upcoming events to continue your LYF journey into 2017!


Sat, Oct 22 9:45am-3pm TAP-SF: 2016 Bike Exchange Workshop 2566 Leghorn St, Mountain View		Sat, Oct 29 1-5pm Taiwanese Aboriginal Dance Workshop Taiwanese American Center, San Jose
TAP-SF will be repairing bicycles for low- income children, families, and individuals with Silicon Valley Bike Coalition. Attendees will learn valuable bicycle repair skills with the help of experienced volunteers, all tools provided.		JTASA invites all high school students to participate in our workshop where we’ll make our own headbands and learn a dance routine. JTASA will be performing at festivals in the spring where you can earn those valuable service hours.
Sign up here!		RSVP by Oct 26.


Sat, Jan 7 2pm-5pm Winter Reunion Teco Culture Center, Milpitas		Submission Date: TBA JTASA Windbreaker Design Contest
We know the holidays are a time for friends and family, so we can’t think of a better way to start 2017 off than a cozy afternoon with LYF! We fill both categories, after all. 🙂 Siblings and friends are more than welcome – the more the merrier; we love to meet new faces. Keep an eye out for more details to follow!		Now a yearly tradition, JTASA is bringing back the JTASA Apparel design contest! After two shirts and a hoodie, we’ve decided to up the ante by challenging you to help us design a windbreaker. Per usual, the designer of the winning design will get their windbreaker for free. Official guidelines coming out soon, so don’t forget to check back on the LYF website!

Summer Activities

Photo Album

With both familiar faces and new, meet the team that keeps LYF running behind the scenes. From fundraising and marketing to programming and everything in between, we, along with the rest of our dedicated volunteer staff, can’t wait to bring you an even better camp experience in 2017! Stay tuned, you won’t be disappointed.

As a kid, Karen used to read the beginning of a book first, then the end, and finally, the middle. Thankfully, LYF has taught her the patience and courage to voyage into the unknown and take life as it comes.

Who is Brian, really? Some say he is a graduate student. Others may see him as…well, probably everyone sees him as a graduate student. He has been involved with the Taiwanese American community for 7 years, and he joined LYF in 2012, hoping to bring a positive impact on the world.

Amanda loves camping for the campfire; being able to toast marshmallows until they are fully puffed up and golden brown. Unfortunately though, she’s managed to melt holes into shoes and a jacket before doing so…

Kenneth has never been super quiet or shy, either as a kid or as an adult. Thankfully, LYF has provided a welcoming and warm environment for him to express himself freely and feel appreciated for it. He believes in kindness, and he enjoys eating and sleeping in overly abundant portions.

Annie’s dream is for LYF Camp to have our own campsite in the future, but needs your help and support for this to come true. In her free time, she likes to eat Mexican food, watch reality TV, and spread her love for Winnie the Pooh.

Cynthia and Vincent were campers together in high school! Back in 2007, they were the first campers to ever plan Fun in the Sun! Since then, it has become a tradition for the oldest small group.

Chris was a first time camper back in 2006, and now a decade later in 2016, he is a first time board member! He’s the youngest of the pack and the only one still in college. Aww how cute!

Johnny used to draw a lot of ninjas in second grade, make folder desk bunkers and sofa pillow forts, created numerous full page mazes, created web designz for his sweet Xanga page, and generated flaming 3d font headlines to put on free geocities websites with visitor counters, clocks, links pages.

Cynthia was super quiet and shy as a kid but LYF (then TAYL) provided a welcoming and warm environment for her to grow out of that shell and become more outspoken. Her ultimate LYF goal is to provide an environment of discovery and development for campers and staff.

Make sure to exercise your right to vote!

It’s Election Season! In just a few weeks, on November 8th, we as a community will be voting for not only the next President of the United States, but also our Senator, House Representatives, and a slew of California propositions, ranging from an increased income tax extension to borrowing $9B in bonds for public education to stricter checks on the sale of gun ammunition.

Exercising our right to vote is perhaps one of our greatest and most precious responsibilities as citizens of a democratic nation. It tells our political representatives in office what really matters to us, what kind of world we want to live, and because we vote, that they need to represent our interests. Although historically, the voter turnout in the Asian-American community has been significantly lower compared to other demographics, this is the year to change it!

If you are 18 years and older (hi Mom and Dad!) and haven’t registered to vote yet, you can register in less than 2 minutes at http://registertovote.ca.gov! You can also request a mail-in ballot if you are unavailable on Election Day.