SCMC- Press Release

January 24, 2008

Dear brothers and sisters,

It is with great honor and excitement to inform you that SCMC will be hosting a “Reunion” scheduled for the end of July 2008. It is our hope to bring all Mien residents from Shasta County who graduated from high schools, vocational programs, junior colleges, state universities, and universities from 1985 through 2008, back to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of our people.

Our people have gone through a lot and we have come a long way since our arrival to the United States. We made so much progress since our families have re-settled in Redding, starting with the first Mien family arriving here in 1985. It brings tears of joy to us remembering our earlier experiences in Redding and comparing it to present day experiences. In the mid 80s folks would give us the stare, dirty looks and curiosity, not having ever seen Mien people before or even recognizing who we are. We didn’t have any Mien teachers, Mien students pursuing higher education, Mien law enforcement staff, Mien doctors, Mien social workers, Mien business owners, Mien pharmacists, Mien mechanics, Mien homeowners, Mien chefs, Mien directors, Mien non-profit organizations, Mien churches, etc. Now, we have many Mien brothers and sisters who have accomplished so much in multiple disciplines. Let’s come together to make this event a memorable experience for all of us, our families, our friends, and share with others about who we are and what we are about!

We sincerely need your help to make this happen. It is an exciting time but without your support and assistance, the event may not be a success or perhaps, not possible. We are asking for assistance with the planning process, help with set up, clean up, getting the word out and more urgently, volunteers to be the contact person for each graduating class to help us gather data and to get ready for the event. You can assist us by forwarding your e-mail address and your fellow graduating Mien students/friend’s contact information so we can contact them directly. You can forward the contact information to Wernjiem Pien at wpien@co.shasta.ca.us.

It is our hope to not only have the opportunity to celebrate together and get to know each other, but to also create a slide show with each graduate before and after photo with a brief update of their education, career, updates of personal adventures, year graduated, college attended and so on. We also want to create a book with current contact information and whatever information you want to disclose as a resource for our community. For example:
MayMay Saechao
Current Graduate Student at CSU, Chico
Simpson University Graduate – Class of 2006 (B.A.)
Shasta College Graduate – Class of 1997 (A.A.)
Enterprise High School Graduate – Class of 1994

Currently employed at Health Care Center as a Social Worker. For assistance or questions, please contact MayMay at 222-2222.

We are also in need of an entertainment committee, slide show committee, planning committee, and data/contact committee. Please help make this event a memorable event for yourself and our community.

Sincerely,

SCMC
shastacountymiencommunity@yahoo.com