The Hmong Institute has a variety of programs that empower the Hmong community through education, health and preservation of Hmong heritage. Some of those programs and activities are powered by fundraisers that The Hmong Institute does themselves throughout the year — like the Hmong Eggroll Fundraiser they are currently hosting.
For a limited time, community members can purchase delicious homemade Hmong eggrolls and fried rice with all of the profits going to programs and activities that help Hmong youth, Hmong women and Hmong elders at The Hmong Institute, a nonprofit that provides resources and services to resettled political refugees of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
“The women in the women’s group help make the egg rolls and fried rice,” says Mai Zong Vue, speaking of The Hmong Institute’s Hmong Women Sisterhood Support Group. “This is a fundraiser that we do three times a year. So this will be the last one for 2023.”
The Eggroll Fundraiser helps with programming that usually doesn’t get funded.
“My wife [Mai Zong Vue] runs the women’s group, which is a group that meets every Monday night and they like to go on field trips maybe to Vitense [Golf Course on Madison’s West Side] to play miniature golf, or they take a women’s retreat to Chicago just to give the women some time to be by themselves,” Peng Her, CEO of The Hmong Institute, tells Madison365. “And so that’s one of the programs that the Egg Roll fundraiser helps to fund.
“For many of the women on these trips, it’s their first time going to these places or doing these activities … so it’s pretty special,” Her adds.
The Hmong Women Sisterhood Support Group has traveled to Chicago to do all sorts of activities and sightseeing. Some of their field trips are closer to home and introduce the Hmong women to new foods like pizza and hamburgers. In May, some of the Hmong women from the group performed on State Street to celebrate Asian Heritage Month, and, afterward, they were taken out for pizza at Ian’s Pizza downtown.
“This Eggroll Fundraiser that we do is very specific to supporting activities that we do for the women’s group and for the seniors where we don’t have grant money to do activities so we fundraise so we can take them on field trips,” Vue says.
The Hmong eggrolls come in pork or veggie and The Hmong Institute will also be selling delicious chicken fried rice and veggie fried rice. You can order here.
“So they can order half an order or they can do a full order, which is one dozen, or they can do many, many dozens and freeze them if they like,” Vue says. “Our eggrolls freeze really well so especially with the holidays coming up, people can freeze them and then when they need it, they just take them out, thaw them out, and reheat it
“They’re good for parties or are just good to snack on …. any occasion,” she adds.
Her says that normally they end up making around 500-600 eggrolls for the Hmong Eggroll Fundraiser and that while many of his organization’s services are made possible through donations, grants, fees, and volunteers, fundraising events like the Hmong Eggroll fundraiser are vital to the organization.
When you order Hmong eggrolls or fried rice, you can choose whether the proceeds from your purchase will go to the Hmong Language and Cultural Enrichment Program (a youth summer program), the Youth Scholarship Fund, field trips for Hmong seniors, or the Hmong Women Sisterhood Support Group.
“We’ve been doing this eggroll fundraiser for the last five years,” Vue says. “Some people call it a little well-kept secret because they don’t discover it until they have the eggrolls at their friend’s house. We really appreciate the word of mouth in letting people know about this wonderful fundraiser.”
For more information about The Hmong Institute or the Hmong Eggroll Fundraiser, e-mail [email protected] or call 608-695-4041.
