The WHSA put on a Pirates of the Caribbean themed fundraiser to help support the club
By Tommy Cha
Last Thursday, the Western Hmong Student Association held their annual tea party fundraiser, The Curse of the Pirate’s Tea. There, the club served a variety of teas and homemade desserts– featuring pirate puns– at a low cost.
The money raised during the event will go towards a scholarship, offered by WHSA, for Hmong students. It’s the first time the club has offered a scholarship, and they hope to have it available to students by this spring using the money from the fundraiser.
The Hmong people are an indigenous nomadic group from Asia. According to the WHSA club page, most Hmong people currently live in China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Many Hmong families sought refuge in Laos after the Hmong people assisted the U.S. during the Vietnam War.
The theme of the tea party was Pirates of the Caribbean. VU 565 was decorated with monsters of the sea, skulls and crossbones, and of course, plenty of pirate’s booty.
The preparation leading to the five-hour event took months.
“We started planning towards the end of fall quarter and… we finally executed it,” said Jenny Chang, co-chair of WHSA. “It took months of planning and decision making. Decorations itself took almost a month.”
WHSA’s first tea party fundraiser was held in 2016. The idea came as a result of the club wanting to try something new. Instead of having a fundraiser focused on the history or the community behind the Hmong people, WHSA decided to just have some fun.
“One of our past officers– she was our president last year– she started this three years ago,” said Chang. “She wanted to do a fundraiser different from what we usually come up with, to step away ethnic-wise and have fun.”
In the fundraiser’s first year, the theme was Alice in Wonderland. The next year, WHSA took on Disney with Beauty and the Beast. Now, due to the fundraiser’s delicious offerings and thorough decorating, it’s a much anticipated event at Western.
“A lot of people ask for it, and it’s really exciting… I’ve seen returning staff three consecutive years,” said Chang.
WHSA was first founded on campus in spring 2014. Since then, the club has sought to spread awareness about Hmong history and culture, as well as advocate for Hmong students in higher education.
“[Our mission] is to branch the Western community to our community, to pass along information and to help our community thrive in higher education,” said Chang.
WHSA meets every Thursday at 6 pm in Academic West 302.