I had a great night last night … I was able to combine two of my favorite non-profits.

I’m on the board of directors for the Asian-American LEAD organization – a terrific non-profit which promotes the well-being of low-income Asian American youth and families and the Capitol Movement Project — an organization which strives to create opportunities for underprivileged DC area dancers to train and perform at an expert level.

My newest mentee is a wonderful young 4th-grader who’s family is from China.  I blogged about her in the past — she expertly sang a solo song at our AA LEAD annual fund-raising dinner this past Feb.  I was so impressed that she had the guts to get in front of nearly 500 people.

I’ve offered her family to pay for her singing, dancing and tutoring.  So, last night was the first session.  We went to the hip hop classes for 7 to 13 year olds offered by the Capitol Movement Project at their new beautiful dance studio at 14th and Crittenden St.

My mentee was shy at first — especially since this was her first time in a dance studio and the first time taking hip hop lessons.  But, after about 20 – 30 minutes, she embraced the teachings.  She liked it so much, she even took in the training for the Mystics junior dancers.  We were there for 2 1/2 hours!  I’m so proud of her.  I’ll be taking her there for the next few Friday evenings — I know she’ll continue to get better and better.

America is indeed the land of opportunity.  And, I’m very proud of organizations such as Asian-American LEAD and Capitol Movement Project that both do so much to help the children in the greater DC region.  If you’re interested in learning more about either organization, please email me at JimmyLynn@aol.com or go to the sites — http://www.aalead.org and http://www.capitolmovement.org.