The UCLA Association of Chinese Americans kicked off its Basic Needs Drive this week to help provide resources for people experiencing homelessness in Chinatown.

The drive is being hosted in collaboration with the Asian Pacific Coalition and the Chinatown Community for Equitable Development – a grassroots organization that helps Chinatown residents find better jobs, education and housing. As part of the event, students host a donation drive on Bruin Walk every Tuesday and Wednesday to collect clothes and hygiene products, said Melody Yuan, ACA’s community chair.

Tyler Ho, ACA’s social media marketing chair, said the club’s work is important because Los Angeles’ Chinatown, which houses underrepresented people, has been experiencing rapid gentrification in recent years. He said rising prices in housing have been a recent concern for many residents.

The drive is crucial to preserve the culture of the Chinatown community for future generations, said Anna Feng, APC’s community advocacy coordinator.

Jessica Li, ACA’s education and empowerment chair, said the Basic Needs Drive will work in tandem with CCED’s Power Up drives, where members from the organization go out weekly and distribute food, clothing and other donated items to the unhoused community in Chinatown.

Both the ACA and the APC send students weekly to help out at the Power Up drives to work directly with the community, she said.

“Everybody deserves the basic needs to survive,” Li said.

Li, who is also a second-year public health student, said the ACA chose to work with CCED because of the grassroots nature of the organization.

The associations collect hygiene products and clothes, particularly those that can keep people warm, Feng said. She added that tarps, warm clothing and blankets can be useful to have during a chilly night or rainstorm.

Yuan, who is also a second-year psychology and public affairs student, said one of ACA’s goals this year has been to expand its community outreach by collecting donations and also sending members to help the CCED distribute them. The APC really wanted to work on publicity as well, said Feng.

“We partnered with ACA again this year and really tried to make sure that word got out there,” she said.

Ho, who is also a second-year psychobiology student, added that he feels community outreach is important because so many UCLA students take basic needs, such as housing and access to food, for granted.

“As Chinese Americans, it’s important for us to really help out and reach out to make sure that we can provide them (unhoused people) resources when they don’t have them,” Li said.