All posts filed under: Events

Interview: Lao Community Service Center of Washington (LCSC) Executive Director Kayla Somvilay

Published by Saysomphorn Sisavatdy

What is the Lao Community Service Center of Washington? “Founded in 2016, The Lao Community Service Center of Washington (LCSC) is a non-profit community organization that assists refugees and immigrants with social, cultural, and educational services.  LCSC’s mission is to unite and strengthen the Lao Community in the Pacific Northwest.”  –LCSC In the 3 years since their debut, they’ve managed to put together language learning courses, community events like: pageants, seasonal festivals with focal changes, music concerts, and more! Best of all–they’re nowhere near done. All proceeds go towards providing the community much needed services, holding fundraising events–and, of course, the ultimate goal of having a Lao Community Center of our very own: to build a home for all the events and bouns we could ever want to throw. I can’t tell you how amazing that would be for our community. I managed to finagle an interview with Executive Director of LCSC, Kayla Somvilay to get her thoughts on her vision, fundraising, events, and her focus on the next generation. Sai Sisavatdy: Wow, what an …

LCSC Washington Presents: 1st Annual Miss Lao Washington

Published by Saysomphorn Sisavatdy

For those that were lucky enough to be in the Seattle, WA area the weekend of the 7th of April–congratulations! I hope you were able to make it out to the 1st Annual Miss Lao Washington pageant to support the Lao Community Service Center of Washington’s (LCSC) quest for a Lao Community center, as well as, all the other services they provide for our community. Held at the Vasa Park Ballroom in Bellevue, WA, the fundraising event went from 4pm to 12am. While I’m not a pageant sort of person–I most definitely am a woman who wants to help raise Lao voices, stories, and to see us fully harness our powers and THRIVE as a community. I confess, outside of the Lao Writer’s Summit in Seattle, last June 2017, I haven’t really been to a Lao function too often. My nearly 10 years in NYC found me adrift from Lao community events–though I certainly threw my own dinner parties to honor different bouns. I wasn’t sure what to expect–but I was pleasantly surprised. Don’t get …