Business & Tech

Gung Hay Fat Choy! New Year Celebrations With a Purpose

Raising funds for a dance scholarship doesn't need to be a stuffy occasion.

Festive only begins to paint the picture of the New Year's dinner Sunday at the .

It's part fundraiser—the Chinese American Chamber of Commerce's Chinese New Year Dinner raises money through the event for its scholarship—and it's a whole lot of party. 

Men sported spiffy jackets, women strapped on heels and lit up the night with a bit of glitter, and the night brought out at least one tiara—the one on the head of Miss Sing Tao 2009, Jocelyn Low, 17, of Los Altos. Low, a senior at Homestead High School, sold raffle tickets along with another Homestead senior, Jessica Pan, 18, who is in the running for this year's Miss Sing Tao.  

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Sing Tao, which operates a daily newspaper, chooses one winner a month by interviewing them and has a final contest in December to choose the grand title winner. The winner, such as Low, is awarded a $3,000 scholarship and represents Sing Tao while attending community events.  

Socializing, greeting friends and business associates gave way to dinner, and then the party began. A live band, Alice and The Wave, provided the beat for the ladies and gents who danced away the night—a fitting end to an evening that sponsors dance scholarships.

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President Dennis Wan kept the emphasis on both the party and the fundraising. The scholarship program provides 10 or more scholarships each year to junior and senior high school students of Asian descent in the amount of $200-$500 each, said chairman Kwok Cheung. The scholarship applications will be available soon, he said.

In addition to being of Asian descent, applicants must be residents of Santa Clara County and be at least a senior in high school so that the scholarship money will be applied to college.


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