On April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the beige white surf house of South Bay Yacht Club hosted approximately 60 FCSN members and families and marked the first FCSN family outing since the pandemic. The atmosphere was filled with joy and laughter as families and friends participated in a wide variety of outdoor entertainment: kayaking, birdwatching, hiking, cycling, and bicycling. 

Organized by FCSN Parents Committee and CP Mentorship, the event marks the return of an FCSN tradition that occurred quarterly prior to the pandemic. Since its establishment around half a year ago, the Parents Committee has two missions: to connect parents to support each other and to bring parents and special needs individuals together through events like family outings. Through special interest groups (SIGs), the committee also embarks on endeavors including initiating housing projects and business start-ups for adults with special needs. 

Operating mainly through virtual meetings since its founding, this spring, the committee decided it was finally time to meet in person. The planning for this outing occurred in the short time span of three weeks. According to Wei, the Parents Committee Chair, one primary challenge in organizing this event was the fact that organizers had to juggle a full-time job, find personal time to organize the outing, and enlist volunteers. To overcome this challenge, organizers recruited youth volunteers to aid in the facilitation of activities and ensuring that the event ran smoothly. On that Sunday alone, there were approximately 20 to 30 junior high and high schoolers who donated their time to volunteer at the outing. Wei reflects, “It feels good that out of everyone’s busy schedule, we still made such an event happen. [The existence of the event] is completely based on the passion and commitment that we have.”

In addition, when organizing the event, there was the challenge of finding ways to create an atmosphere of comfort for both the organization and individuals with special needs. Wei recalled that in this case, “different nonprofit organizations are not quite comfortable with working with kids or adults with a disability because for adults on the spectrum, loud noises are overwhelming.” Fortunately, the Parents Committee was able to overcome setbacks and collaborate with the South Bay Yacht Club, who offered a space for families and friends to enjoy the outdoor environment. The spacious outdoor environment and beautiful weather allowed family and friends to bask in the sunlight and spend a relaxing day by the California shore.

With the main goal of providing a relaxing time for FCSN members to spend time with family and friends, the committee planned events that many attendees never experienced before. Wei recalls asking a few families if they have done kayaking before. To her surprise, many of them had never gone kayaking. “Sometimes families battling the spectrum are so busy just dealing with the hardship that they hardly have time to do typical activities like kayaking,” Wei said. “It feels really good that [through this outing] they actually got the chance to do this just like any other families.”

Furthermore, during the outing, many were able to reconcile with old acquaintances as well. One participant, Selina, was overjoyed to meet an old classmate there. “Since I moved to American High School, I didn’t get to see [my classmate] for a long time. I was very happy to see him [there].” 

Through this outing, many parents who have been working together for 3 months finally had an opportunity to meet up, eat delicious food, and also enjoy the sunshine. In the future, Wei hopes to expand awareness of the special needs community beyond FCSN. The goal is for volunteers to benefit from taking the initiative by being introspective and reflecting on areas of improvement as well as keeping a simple framework of only one or two things to work on, so that future goals can be successfully attained.

The Parents Committee plans to host another family outing sometime in the future. The details are not finalized due to the availability of volunteers and summer vacation.