Written by Jennifer Chien
Translated by H.B. Qin
Edited by Ida Eva Zielinska
“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you …”
On February 17, 2024, Tzu Chi USA’s Northwest Los Angeles Service Center was filled with laughter and joy as Tzu Chi volunteers and community members gathered to celebrate the Chinese New Year and sang a birthday song to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Service Center’s establishment. The Tzu Chi volunteers who had participated in its founding recalled that the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles 30 years ago was the first disaster relief action by Tzu Chi in Southern California, leading to Tzu Chi’s establishment in the Northridge area.
The Northridge Earthquake Relief Mission Marked the Beginning
Tzu Chi USA Deputy CEO Chao Tang, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation CEO Dr. Stephen Denq, and past directors of the Northwest Los Angeles Service Center, including Jean Hsu, Cherry Wang, Jeng Chen, and other Tzu Chi volunteers attended the event and welcomed the Chinese New Year alongside guests. A lively lion dance performance and Tzu Chi volunteers demonstrating Tai Chi entertained all gathered. As part of celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Service Center together, everyone received good fortune packets and blessings from Master Cheng Yen and lit and held lanterns during prayers for world peace.
Tzu Chi volunteer Jean Hsu shared the story of the Northwest Los Angeles Service Center’s establishment 25 years ago in 1999: “That’s when I got to know Tzu Chi and participated in some of its activities. We also helped a lot of people during the Northridge earthquake. When Brother Stephen Huang learned about our activities, he thought it was time for us to set up a service center.”
The Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles is something no one of a certain age in Southern California would ever forget. It has been 30 years since the disaster, but it is still a fear in the hearts of Southern Californians in this earthquake-prone region. The powerful magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck San Fernando Valley’s Northridge area at 4:30 AM on January 17, 1994, widely impacting the Valley, home to three million people. Dozens of freeways and thousands of structures, including apartments, office buildings, hospitals, and schools, were damaged or collapsed. Fifty-seven people died, over 9,000 were injured, and more than 25,000 were left homeless. The total losses amounted to over $30 billion, making it one of Southern California’s most significant natural disasters.
Tzu Chi Provides Ten Consecutive Days of Emergency Relief
After the earthquake, Stephen Huang, then Executive Director of the Tzu Chi U.S. Branch, led 20 Tzu Chi volunteers to the earthquake’s epicenter to survey damages and distribute water and food at the relief center that day. Tzu Chi volunteers focused on hard-hit Santa Clarita over the next ten days. The relief team also went to emergency shelters and tent parks in different disaster areas in Northridge to distribute food, fruit, water, baby food, diapers, blankets, and other relief items. They set up a shower truck for survivors’ use as well. The volunteers additionally went to the devastated Ridgegate community to help the survivors organize their homes. They distributed nearly $10,000 in relief grants and daily necessities to 30 severely affected families that lived in the Sylmar Manor Mobile Home Park.
Uniting People in the Northridge Area After the Disaster
The medical staff of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Free Clinic in Alhambra (established in 1993 and now the Tzu Chi Health Center Alhambra) also visited the disaster area several times after the earthquake to organize free clinics to assist the survivors. This venture was the first large-scale emergency relief operation in Southern California since the Tzu Chi U.S. Branch formed in 1989 and launched Tzu Chi’s free clinic services in the Northwest area of Los Angeles, laying the foundation for free clinics in Central California afterward.
The disaster relief efforts quickly made Northridge residents aware of Tzu Chi’s presence. A volunteer couple, Chun Lung Lin and Siou Mei Hong, and volunteers Jean Hsu and Ashu Liao, actively organized community tea parties and book clubs, recruiting Tzu Chi volunteers and members in the Northridge area. Then, on January 2, 1999, the Northwest Los Angeles Service Center was formally established.
Through 25 years of community involvement and outreach, the Northwest Los Angeles Service Center has invested in Tzu Chi’s charitable, medical, educational, and humanistic missions and recruited the participation of many talented people, including Dr. Chin Lon Lin, current CEO of Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation in Taiwan, Dr. Stephen Denq, current CEO of Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation in the U.S., Bing-Bing Li, a professor at California State University, Northridge, and many others.
Restarting Evergreen Classes to Care for Dharma Relatives
The journey over the last 25 years has also included hardships. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tzu Chi USA’s Northwest Los Angeles Service Center was also affected. However, according to Tzu Chi volunteer Cherry Wang, “Although we couldn’t open the office during the pandemic, we weren’t idle; we distributed supplies to hospitals and people in need. Our Service Center inspired many things in the Northridge community.”
Over the past 25 years, we have done many activities here, thanks to the support of all our brothers and sisters in Northridge and our families.
As the pandemic subsides, Tzu Chi USA’s service centers have restarted Evergreen Classes, inviting old friends who haven’t seen each other for a long time to reunite, learn, and enjoy tea ceremonies and good food together. Jeng Chen, director of the Northwest Los Angeles Service Center, said, “Starting this year, the Service Center will carry out more activities, including restarting the Evergreen Classes to care for our Dharma relatives; there will also be social education activities and our volunteers’ Tai Chi demonstrations for the community.”
We envision that Tzu Chi USA’s Northwest Los Angeles Service Center will become even more active and beneficial over the years as it continues to care for the community and those in need. And, here in California and nationwide, your support and love empower Tzu Chi USA’s missions, service centers, and activities!
