The Northwestern China Care Club won first place for outstanding leadership out of 42 collegiate charters in the national China Care Foundation’s second annual club awards. Tedd Vanadilok, director for Asian-American student affairs, was also awarded second place for outstanding faculty advisor.
For former China Care co-president Molly Chen, the achievement represents the success of the entire executive board of China Care. The Weinberg senior attributes the group’s leadership during this school year with the organization and increased membership of the student group.
“We divided into more subcommittees so that everyone would feel involved,” Chen said. “We also added junior executive positions to give the dedicated underclassmen more of a voice, and have their own pet projects.”
Established in 2000, China Care helps connect orphaned Chinese children with medical care and foster families. Northwestern’s China Care chapter began in 2005 and organizes regular playgroup and mentorship events on campus. During Chinese New Year, the club invited lion dancers, made Chinese puppets and served Chinese food to the children.
The club’s goal this year was to expand their membership and reach out to non-Asian students.
“By making China Care more of a philanthropy group than a cultural group that many students regard it as, we were able to increase our membership almost two-fold,” Chen said.
Chen was grateful for the dedication of China Care’s members. She said Northwestern’s China Care Club has become more streamlined with the active involvement of its members this year.
“The executive board was really dedicated and we always had full attendance during meetings,” she said. “It was really a matter of our collective efforts, and I’m glad that all of the members were always on top of their agendas.”
Besides the leadership award, faculty member Tedd Vanadilok came in second for Best Faculty Advisor. Joshua Lee, Weinberg Junior and current co-president of China Care, said, “Tedd is a great asset to our group because he’s had so much experience with so many different clubs, so he always has really great advice for us whenever we have an idea we want to carry out. I’m really glad that he won this award, since he works so hard for Northwestern and deserves much recognition for it.”