The Square and Circle Club was founded in 1924 in San Francisco Chinatown by seven young women to aid flood and famine victims in China. The Club’s first benefit that year was a dance featuring jazz music that raised $250 net. From that time on and to this day, the Club has continued its tradition of supporting and caring for the needs of the community. The Club has grown and evolved through the years into a multi-tasking philanthropic organization.
After 1924, Square and Circle Club’s international philanthropy continued in 1926 with its annual Benefit Hope Chest Raffle to aid Chinese flood victims again. Below is a list of more recent international aid given to the victims of the:
- 2008 Sichuan earthquake
- 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami
- 2015 Nepal earthquake
Locally, in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Club has held fundraisers in the form of dances, variety and fashion shows, carnivals, raffles, and rummage sales to support and raise money for the Chung Mei Home for Chinese Boys, the Ming Quong Home for Chinese girls, and various tutorial programs in Chinatown. The following is a partial list of organizations that the Club has recently supported since the 1990s:
- Angel Island Immigration Station
- Asian Pacific Fund (Half Moon Bay Support Fund)
- Asian Women’s Shelter
- BeChinatown
- Braid Mission
- Betty Ann Ong Chinese Recreation Center
- Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC)
- Chinatown YMCA and YWCA
- Chinese Culture Foundation (In Search of Roots Program)
- Chinese for Affirmative Action (Half Moon Bay Victims Fund)
- Chinese Hospital
- City College of San Francisco, Chinatown/North Beach Campus
- Chinese Education Center
- Chinese Historical Society of America
- East Bay Heritage Quilts
- Francisco Middle School Relief Fund
- Gum Moon Women’s Residence
- Kokoro Assisted Living
- Laguna Honda Hospital
- Larkin Street Youth
- On Lok Senior Citizens Health Services
- Purple Silk Music Education Foundation
- San Francisco Unified Lions Club
- Self-Help for the Elderly
- Wu Yee Children’s Services
View “News” for the latest updates on our philanthropic work.