CAA Celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival
Assistant to the Chair Yvette Andino (third from left), NYCHA executive staff members, and CAA executive board members and friends.
Chair and CEO Shola Olatoye wished the Chinese-American Association’s (CAA) members and friends Chung Chau Ji Fei Lok! or “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival,” at its celebration of the harvest holiday on September 12. One of the most important dates on the Chinese lunar calendar, the festival is sometimes compared to Thanksgiving, with families traveling far to reunite around a bountiful table.
CAA Chair Nancy Lam, who has presided over many Chair Shola Olatoye with CAA President Linda Zhang (left) and CAA Chair Nancy Lam (right), Director of Employee Engagement and Special Assistant to the Chair Yvette Andino (third from left), NYCHA executive staff members, and CAA executive board members and friends. CAA celebrations, fondly recalled staying up late as a child for family reunions in Hong Kong, eating traditional festival foods, including moon cakes, and going outside to a high vantage point to admire the full, yellow moon.
NYCHA’s festival included some authentic aspects of its own, with traditional songs performed by Betsy Mak- Wong and Anna Lee, and a legend presented by Susan Leong Loo.
In thanking all CAA members for their contribution to NYCHA “during a time of great change,” Chair Olatoye acknowledged Director of the Applications & Tenancy Administration Department Tina Lam, who retires this month, for her “service and commitment to public housing.”
Chair Olatoye also recognized executive board members from other employee organizations in attendance, and noted that the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha was also being observed.
CAA President Linda Zhang thanked everyone who assisted in hosting the day’s celebration, while acknowledging the solemn 15-year anniversary of 9/11 the day before.
