The WOW Project

W.O.W. is turning 9 this June! 

Nearly a decade ago, we planted the seeds of a vision—one rooted in cultural resilience, intergenerational dialogue, and community power. Now, as we celebrate nine years of art and activism, we are also looking ahead: How do we ensure that our communities not only survive but thrive for generations to come?

W.O.W.’s journey began in the heart of Manhattan Chinatown, within the century-old Wing On Wo & Co., Mei Lum founded The W.O.W. Project in 2016, continuing the legacy of her family's porcelain store, a community hub since the 1890s. The W.O.W. Project carries forward this tradition, and stands as a mobilizing force of Asian diasporic youth, socially engaged artists, community organizers and neighbors, responding to the evolving needs of Chinatown in this latest era of uncertainty and displacement. 

Rather than relying on systems that extract from us while offering only a small fraction back as charity, we are building power from within. Growth, for us, means deepening our roots in Chinatown, ensuring that our neighborhood remains a place where immigrant, working-class, and queer communities can stay, create, and organize for our boldest dreams.

Join us in raising ✨ $18,000 ✨ to sustain our cultural organizing and abolitionist vision for Chinatown! Your support reimbursement the labor of fighting displacement, strengthening youth leadership and protecting the rights to dream big for our futures:

🧧Youth Leadership Pipelines & Land Stewardship – W.O.W. youth are cultivating new generations of organizers and community stewards through Resist, Recycle, Regenerate (High School Summer Fellowship) & the Arts, Crafts, and Urban Studies High School Summer Fellowship. These programs create spaces for intergenerational discussions and collective strategy-building to fight gentrification and steward the neighborhood that defines their Asian American identities.

🍊Mutual Aid & Small Business Organizing – Small businesses are the backbone of Chinatown’s working-class community. From Chinatown, With Love (FCWL) builds economic solidarity with small businesses by reimagining cultural traditions like red envelope giveaways and lion dancing, as tools of cultural organizing, and mobilizes a cross-generational and cross-class base to resist carceral state projects, like the magajail, and strengthen community safety nets.

Will you chip in today and help us reach our $18,000 goal?
Whether you make a one-time gift, become a monthly sustainer, or help us spread the word—your support powers our people’s dreams and defends our right to stay.

✨Donate Now!✨

See you in the community! 

With love and gratitude,

All of us at W.O.W.