When they are not serving food to more than 30 percent of Baton Rouge’s homeless population, members of the University’s Vietnamese Student Association occupy themselves with preserving their Vietnamese identities.
“We try our hardest to keep our Vietnamese tradition,” said Tong Nguyen, a business senior and one of the organization’s two presidents. “If you aren’t Vietnamese and you want to learn about Vietnamese culture, we try our best to focus on teaching people the culture, traditions — as well as trying to preserve those who are Vietnamese.”
The Vietnamese Student Association, commonly known as the VSA, is one of five Vietnamese/Asian student organizations within the Asian American Student Intercollegiate Association.
John Hopkins, a chemistry professor and adviser to VSA, said the club is open to students interested in learning and spreading awareness of the Vietnamese culture. Activities range from fundraising to meeting with professionals within their culture.
VSA is now engaging in community service and spent time Sunday feeding the homeless at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge. Trang Le, a biochemistry junior and Nguyen’s vice president, said this was VSA’s first service project
“I’ve volunteered a couple of times and I liked it, so I thought VSA would enjoy doing it too,” Le said.
During the weekends, more than 300 people visit St. Vincent for food, said Sonia Rushing, a cook at St. Vincent who said only three staff members serve food to people during the weekends.
“If it weren’t for the volunteers, we’d be stuck out on a limb,” said Rushing. “It’s really great to have them volunteer, and it’s so great that people want to do this.”
The Capital Area Association for the Homeless estimates Baton Rouge has more than 900 homeless people at any given time.
Terrill Bovie is an unemployed man who eats at St. Vincent when he runs out of food at home, and he said the volunteers treat him well.
“It’s very helpful, and it’s a blessing as far as I’m concerned for me,” Bovie said.
Nguyen and Le said VSA wants to connect to LSU more and is reaching out to the Office of Multicultural Affairs for assistance.
In the spring, VSA will have a Phở Night, where students can eat phở, a traditional Vietnamese soup dish with beef or chicken, green onions and noodles made from rice flour.
VSA had 150 students attend its first meeting, and Le said the next one is this Thursday at 5:45 p.m. in the Allen Hall basement. Anyone is welcome to join VSA for meetings or membership, and Le encourages students to join.
“It’s not every day you walk into a room full of Asians,” Le joked.
“If it weren’t for the volunteers, we’d be stuck out on a limb.”
