Filling the Hearts of Elderly Asian Americans

My name is Sylvan Chez and I am working towards the final rank of Eagle. One of my last steps in the journey is to create an "Eagle Scout Project" that will benefit my community.

Food security is very important to me. My parents and grandparents are Chinese immigrants and I’ve seen firsthand the challenges faced by my grandparent’s circle of friends who live in communities where they cannot easily access fresh, affordable, and familiar groceries. Growing up, I was lucky to have grandparents who made sure I had homemade delicious food everyday after school. I now have an opportunity to pay back the love and care I received. For my project, I am organizing note writing and bag illustration events with my family, friends, and troop to support the Heart of Dinner organization. My goal is to prepare 100 notes written in traditional Chinese and 100 illustrated bags for the care packages.

Heart of Dinner prepares 700 care packages per week containing culturally thoughtful and nutritious senior-friendly foods, hand-illustrated bags to inspire joy, and handwritten love notes in native languages to bridge isolation. They are deeply committed to reducing food insecurity, social isolation, and loneliness among Asian American older adults.

The money raised will be used for note cards, brown paper bags, art supplies, and food for the volunteers. Any extra funds will be donated directly to Heart of Dinner.