Written by Wenchi Chuang
Translated by H.B. Qin
Edited by Ariel Tsai
Tzu Chi USA’s Mid-Atlantic Region celebrated its 30th anniversary on March 15, 2025. Tzu Chi volunteers from New Jersey and New York joined the event in person, while volunteers from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh joined in the celebration online. At the event, three generations of volunteers reflected on past achievements and encouraged each other to continue passing on the power of goodness for the next 30 years. The atmosphere was warm and full of blessings and gratitude. Debra Boudreaux, then-CEO of Tzu Chi USA, brought blessings on behalf of Tzu Chi USA’s Headquarters from California.
Blessings and Encouragement
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In 1995, the Mid-Atlantic Region was established in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Thirty years have passed in a flash since then. At the beginning of the celebration, host Zhongyi Chao invited Debbie Lin, the “First Seed” of the Mid-Atlantic Region, to read the congratulatory letter from Master Cheng Yen: “At the intersection of this great era, the Mid-Atlantic Region, just like a seed of goodness, has opened up the blessed field of global love on earth. When people are in need, it has undertaken the important mission of being the first responder on the scene to let love pour into the world at times of great disasters and catastrophes.”
In the letter, Master Cheng Yen recognized the Mid-Atlantic Region’s hard work over the past 30 years and encouraged everyone to maintain their pure and steadfast initial intention: “Studying Buddhism is like being a farmer, who needs to sow good seeds, remove stray roots and seedlings, and work hard to grow strong.”
Debbie Lin hoped that volunteers of the Mid-Atlantic Region would support each other and continue to innovate, and that the veteran volunteers would continue to accompany the newcomers and lead them to grow on the path of Tzu Chi.
We veteran volunteers should stay and accompany the younger volunteers, protect the old while carrying out innovation, so that we can keep good traditions alive while attracting more people to join us in this great endeavor.
Former Tzu Chi USA CEO Jackson Chen also took the stage and read a congratulatory letter from Executive Director of Tzu Chi’s Global Volunteers Stephen Huang: “Throughout the years, volunteers of the Mid-Atlantic Region have proven great unconditional benevolence and universal compassion through their actions. The most important thing for the development of Tzu Chi is to raise hearts and love, to appeal to people’s inner goodness, to bring more positive energy into the world, and to embody the spirit of Tzu Chi in the eastern part of the US, so as to become an indispensable stream of fresh water in society.”
We encourage everyone to continue to move forward and reach Master Cheng Yen's expectations, and we wish Tzu Chi unlimited amounts of thirty years in the future!
Afterwards, Zhongyi Chao introduced volunteers from New Jersey and New York, who attended in person, to volunteers from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, who attended online. Dharma family members who had not seen each other for a long time exchanged greetings, reflected on their shared history of doing good, and offered blessings to each other.
Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region Doris Chang delivered a speech: “We welcome our Dharma family members home. I am grateful that Master Cheng Yen created the Tzu Chi world, so that we have a place to call our spiritual home.”
I cherish the opportunity of being here today.
Debra Boudreaux, then-CEO of Tzu Chi USA, traveled from California to bring the Headquarters’ blessing: “The offices of the Northeast Region and the Mid-Atlantic Region in the east of the US are homes to us all. Congratulations to the Mid-Atlantic Region’s 30th anniversary.”
We are grateful to Master Cheng Yen for giving us a field of blessings for us to cultivate deeply in the communities!
Freeman Su, Executive Director of the Northeast Region, hoped that everyone would remember Master Cheng Yen’s reminder to “Preserve the old while innovating, and keep the Dharma heritage unchanged,” and pave new paths in the four major missions, so that everyone could find sparks of life in the eastern region of the United States.
Thirty Years of Love and Light
Through a video entitled “Looking Back on the Road We Traveled”, the guests looked back on the history of the Mid-Atlantic Region: from the first seed to moving into the spiritual home, from the Tzu Chi Academy being established to the development of volunteer training camps, witnessing together the footsteps of the volunteers’ dedication and the home they had built hand in hand.
Jackson Chen, former CEO of Tzu Chi USA, shared with the audience the challenges faced by the Mid-Atlantic Region in its early days and how, with everyone’s support, the volunteers gradually built their spiritual home in the regional office.
Keeping the warm atmosphere of the video going, hosts Diana Kuo and Emily Chou interacted with the volunteers and played a “years of service” game to introduce those who have served with Tzu Chi from five years to more than 25 years, thanking them for their tireless years of great love and dedication.
Sam Chou, Deputy Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region, humorously said, “There are many older volunteers like me here. I hope we can expect more younger volunteers to join in the future to continue passing down the legacy of the Mid-Atlantic Region.”
Many stories of the Mid-Atlantic Region were told as part of the Family Tree project. The jet-black hair of young and energetic volunteers in the “Looking Back” video had begun to gray, while members of the Tzu Chi Youth Group (Tzu Shao) and Tzu Chi Collegiate Association (Tzu Ching) had grown up to become a second generation of Tzu Chi volunteers. In the “Guess Who They Are” session, Carol Wu, a Tzu Shao from thirty years ago who was now a Tzu Chi member, traveled all the way from Boston with her child to join in the celebration. Jaden Chen, who joined Tzu Chi twenty years ago, was now a Tzu Ching member at the university.
“Angels in Blue”
The “Looking Back” video also highlighted the humanitarian effort of Tzu Chi volunteers in the face of several major disasters. Yuying Hsu, a Tzu Chi media volunteer at that time, led the audience on a retrospective of Tzu Chi’s work in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001, and invited volunteers to tell stories of how the Mid-Atlantic Region and the Northeast Region actively participated in disaster relief together.
Debra Boudreaux said, “The September 11 attacks inspired love in the Mid-Atlantic Region, which gave Tzu Chi the opportunity to become part of mainstream society, where we witnessed more suffering and, as a result, began to carry out more charity work. ”
The video also documented the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy on Virginia in 2016. Jackson Chen led volunteers from Chicago, Cleveland, Washington D.C., and New Jersey to provide emergency relief, who comforted survivors with songs and hugs, leading local residents to affectionately call Tzu Chi volunteers “Angels in Blue”.
Gratitude and Harvest
The 30th anniversary celebration was like a family reunion, filled with the warmth of home. Dharma family members in attendance could not stop their tears of gratitude and love as they reminisced about the past.
Yinhsu Liu was moved to tears several times while watching the video. She was especially touched by Tzu Chi’s relief work following the September 11 attacks. She recalled joining other volunteers in disaster relief as a Tzu Ching. She was touched by how Tzu Chi volunteers, whether more than 20 years ago or now, have still retained the same level of enthusiasm for doing good in the world.
The earlier generation of volunteers set up the Mid-Atlantic Region at my age. I hope I can borrow their youthful enthusiasm and courage to connect with more people now.
Tzu Shao Benjamin Hsieh has been a member of Tzu Chi for many years, but he has never known the founding story of the Mid-Atlantic Region. After listening to older volunteers share and learning about the chapter’s history through the video, Hsieh felt that he had gained a lot and was also reminded of his original intention of joining Tzu Chi to help others.
I hope I can continue to grow as part of the Tzu Chi family in the future.
Gratitude and Harvest
The final part of the 30th Anniversary Celebration was the “Path of Living Vows” concert, which featured lively performances of singing, sign language, bells, and drums by volunteers from all three generations on the same stage.
When the longevity peaches brought by the New York Dharma family were brought to the front of the stage, the entire audience sang “Infinite Blessings and Longevity” together to wish the Mid-Atlantic Region a happy 30th birthday.
When volunteers performed the sign language “We Are One Family,” the audience was inspired to perform the sign language together, creating a spectacular yet warm atmosphere full of love and care.
At the end of the event, three generations of Tzu Chi volunteers also performed the sign language “World of One Thousand Hands”, signifying that all Tzu Chi volunteers would walk hand-in-hand with linked hearts, and jointly vowed to pass on Tzu Chi’s great love into more people’s hearts.
