With funding from the HKIS James Handrich Fund, Chloe Chang sought to serve the greater community through her love of art. The project “Joy In Art” centered around providing seventeen teenage mothers and their children with opportunities for some resources and education for art. Chloe strongly believed art “was a crucial way that children could learn to develop, and express themselves.” Art has the power of allowing self-expression and encouraging creative thinking. But for teenage mothers, it is difficult and quite overwhelming to fully support and introduce their children to art education. During the third wave of COVID, Chloe and her team held online art sessions for the children, providing them with the necessary supplies and materials. With these lessons, Joy in Art aims to open up young children of teenage parents to pursue a future in art.

Chloe hopes that “the [HKIS] community could understand that the project was aimed toward the teenage parents of Hong Kong and that there are actually quite a number of these sorts of teenagers within the city. I hope that the HKIS community would be able to recognize the many needs of these people, and attempt to support these parents and their children more.”

As members of the HKIS community, we have the opportunity and resources to pursue our interests. However, this is a privilege not afforded to everyone, and through the James Handrich Fund, students can share their passions with those in the community who many have the same opportunities. What a great way of spreading love through art!

Driven by her struggles with eczema, Chelsea Hwang envisioned her project to help young people find empowerment in their skin and mental health journeys. The Our Eczema Project includes two different sections: Social media awareness and in-person workshops held at various youth organizations in HK.

Through the Our Eczema Project website and Instagram page, Chelsea shares important information about eczema from the triggers, treatments, routines, and mental health impact of the condition. For instance, posting product reviews that provide insight into the product's pros, cons, and ingredients. Chelsea elaborates further in her pamphlet.

In addition, Chelsea reached out to the community both in Hong Kong and the US through webinars and workshops that discuss how skin can affect self-perception and mental health and the importance of skin normalization. Chelsea held these presentations for HKIS students, HK Central Church, HK boy scouts, and New Jersey Presbyterian Church, and even interviewed Public Health officials at the Hackensack Health Department of Bergen County.

Reflecting on her experiences, Chelsea writes, “This project and funding have allowed me to spread awareness about a topic that is close to my heart, and I’m grateful I could receive support in fulfilling my mission of skin destigmatization.” Regarding the support from the James Handrich Fund, she says, “Besides just financially, I was able to receive more support from third parties once I let them know I received funding. It helped further my project.” For many students, just a little momentum can begin a domino effect to take their unique experiences to help and educate the community.

Through the HKIS James Handrich Fund, Clare Lee donated dental hygiene supplies and provided dental hygiene education to young children. The project involved designing a pamphlet that contained colorful digital illustrations that conveyed important information about dental caries and teeth brushing. It was important that the facts were presented in a easy-to-understand manner. This was an priority because Clare found through research that “although the Hong Kong government emphasizes public dental services for primary children, there were not many resources that addressed or provided information in English at the level of young children to understand.” Clare donated her education pamphlet and eco-friendly bamboo toothbrushes to the organization Crossroads Foundation Hong Kong.

Clare was inspired to choose this project as a way to incorporate her interest in communication design, public health and dentistry into her community service. The opportunity allowed Clare to challenge herself by in a variety ways like “learning skills like digital creation of a pamphlet throughout the processes of this project.” Through the James Handrich Fund students can gain valuable knowledge and skill-set beyond the classroom that they will undoubtedly transfer to their future endeavours.

With her dental hygiene project, Clare Lee demonstrates that, with creativity and the resources given to us, we can all utilise our own unique skills and interests to serve the greater community.