Ting Barnard Connects with the CSEA and Speaks About Philanthropy, Entrepreneurship & Servant Leadership.

Seeing people come together to help each other always creates a warm aura in any room.

Throughout the year the Center for Southeast Asians (CSEA) continues to be a strong pillar of support for the communities they serve.

In November, Channavy Chhay, executive director of the CSEA, organized multiple events with sponsorship from the Papitto Opportunity Connection (POC) to gather members of the community, primarily of Southeast Asian descent, to spark a conversation of how to assist one another. There are many opportunities in reach and every day pushes us closer to more accessibility because of organizations like the CSEA.

“For us, it’s not about how much we make, but for us to think about philanthropy; to put back what we have gained.” Channavy states as she introduced Ting Barnard to speak a few words at an outreach event for aspiring entrepreneurs and other businesspeople on November 9th.

Ting led her speech with the saying “het dee, dai dee”, a Laotian saying which directly translates to “do good, receive good”; and when you receive good, you should do good. She is a strong advocate that the nature of giving is more rewarding than any benefits from taking. This ideology has sparked much of her career’s work as she pays forward all the blessings she’s received to bless others. She continued to draw strength from her philanthropic spirit as she spoke to a community of entrepreneurs and business hopefuls in the Southeast Asian community. 

With becoming a board member of POC, Ting has been able to give back to the community by strengthening the connection between the foundation and the CSEA.

Ting’s words resonated with the crowd as she spoke about her parents’ experiences with running their own business, working tirelessly just to support her throughout her childhood. These experiences and memories of her upbringing on Orms Street in Providence, Rhode Island opened Ting’s eyes as she expressed retroactive gratitude by noting “if someone had invested just a little in them, it would’ve left a large impact on their business.”

“We can grow philanthropy by elevating ourselves and others.” said Ting as she addressed the room with a call to action. She backed up all her words by personally connecting with attendees for the remainder of the event. 

During a cultural food giveaway and job fair event held November 17th, Ting showcased the same energy to hundreds of attendees that were gathered to receive food, vaccination/booster shot assistance and job leads/resource assistance from several organizations (including Lifespan, the RI Philharmonic, United Way, Building Futures/Apprenticeship RI, Career Devs, Hope and Main, and the National Guard). Supplies available included 1,500 25-pound bags of Jasmine rice, fish sauce bottles, packs of sardines in tomato sauce, 400 frozen turkeys, and 200 Tilapia. In addition, 36 clients were given their 1st, 2nd, or booster shot from the Providence Community Health Center.

As these hundreds of attendees looked on to the well-positioned podium in front of them, Ting spoke about the importance of servant leadership: a core value of her work ethic. Family members from children to elders came in droves and connected with her message as the rest of the event was full of open hearts recharging with the spirit of laughter. At the end of the day, approximately 1,300 people were served.

Ting was right there with them, just like on the 9th, conversing with as many people as possible while handing out supplies. People who walked in with hopeful minds walked out with an even bigger sense of community.