Brandon Nguyen
North Hollywood Chapter
California, USA
"At first, I joined mostly on a whim...
however, realizing the huge difference
one person could make, I found myself
going to meetings for the next few years."
Read the rest of Brandon's answers.
Richard Liang is from Fremont, California. He actively participates in the arts program at his school, playing cello in his school’s orchestra and percussion in the jazz band. This summer, Richard is laying the foundations for a VAMS Chapter at Mission San Jose High School. He likes that VAMS not only serves the community, but also encourages student leadership. He hopes to "learn a lot from VAMS, including communication, writing, and leadership skills."
Rehabilitation
New Year's Event at Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center
- Where: Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center - 1891 Effie St., Los Angeles, CA 90026
- When: Monday, January 15, 2007
Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center is a non-profit organization for mentally ill adolescents and adults, including the homeless, the dually diagnosed, at-risk teens, and those exiting the criminal justice system. At this visit, VAMS club members performed two concerts: one for the adolescent patients and another for the adults. Each show featured solos, duets, and trios of both singers and instrumentalists. Instruments included the flute, the piano, and the trumpet. For the grand finale, VAMS singers sang Frosty the Snowman, featuring Marissa Mekvichitsaeg as Frosty, the trumpet-playing snowman. Afterwards, the club members handed out chocolate, fruit, cookies, and cards, and chatted with the patients. As the VAMS members were leaving, patients cheered for them to return on Valentine's Day.
Cardmaking for Glenridge Center
For Valentine’s Day in 2010, VAMS members made over 1000 thoughtful and artistic Valentine’s Day cards for the residents of Glenridge Center, a home for people with debilitating mental disabilities. Though we were unable to visit the center to interact with the residents, we helped brighten up their holiday with colorful, caring cards.
Ian Clarke received a full ride to Indiana University, where he studies music composition. He has also been selected as a Berklee College of Music presenting film score composer, and earned recognition from the Beverly Hills Literary Society and the Kauai Peace Project. In high school, Ian studied the piano, flute, piccolo, guitar, and Indonesian gamelan. He used his expertise to reach out to the community through VAMS. What does this musician have to tell us about music? "One of the most important things to understand about creating music is that, regardless of how much music theory you know, or how much technical ability you possess, your music will be hollow and uninteresting if you lack emotional integrity."
