Howard Tong grew up in the Sunset not far from the corner of Irving and 30th Avenue, which is home to the San Francisco office of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation.

Today, Howard is among 250 local Tzu Chi volunteers who help disaster victims and raise funds for international relief. It’s a family effort as Howard volunteers with his aunt, Iris Ho. They also support local food pantries and clinics for dental care, Chinese medicine, and flu shots.

Tzu Chi is a global charity that was founded more than 50 years ago by a Buddhist nun in rural Taiwan. Dharma Master Cheng Yen grieved for the poverty she saw around her. Determined to help, she established a local charity and inspired others to save their pennies for those in need. She called it Tzu Chi – which means “compassion and relief” in Mandarin.

Master Cheng Yen, now 86, has been called the Mother Teresa of Asia, and Tzu Chi has been honored by the White House and recognized by the United Nations for its work.

Tzu Chi opened a San Francisco headquarters at 2901 Irving Street in the Sunset in 1993. Today, Tzu Chi USA has 65 offices and facilities throughout the U.S.

Tzu Chi has a presence on five continents and engages millions of supporters. Its mission includes medicine, disaster relief, and education. Its dedicated volunteers have rushed to assist those impacted by hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and other disasters in more than 100 countries and raised millions of dollars to fund their efforts. They have established medical clinics in underserved communities and rebuilt damaged schools. 

Howard said volunteering in the wake of the 2017 Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa changed his life. He was one of more than 100 Tzu Chi volunteers from the Bay Area assisting the mostly low-income and elderly residents of the Journey’s End Mobile Home Park who lost their homes in the fire. The Tzu Chi Foundation provided funding and emergency supplies for the newly homeless and helped them access services and find housing.  

In the Buddhist tradition of giving and service, Howard found the work intensely rewarding, so much so that he left his job as an accountant to become a fulltime disaster case manager. 

“I wanted to do something more purposeful in my life,” Howard says.

He worked with fire victims for more than two years until the assistance program ended. He returned to his profession and is now a financial controller with a firm in the North Bay. But he remains a Tzu Chi volunteer.

While Buddhist values are central to the work of Tzu Chi, the charity welcomes all volunteers and supporters. The organization holds fund raisers, including an annual gala, to raise money to support its programs. 

On May 20, the Sunset chapter will celebrate the birth of the Buddha (Day of Vesak), in tandem with Global Tzu Chi Day, Tzu Chi’s 57th anniversary, and Mother’s Day. All ages are invited to the free community event beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Irving and 30th Avenue.

Reported and written by volunteer community journalist Jan Cook. We encourage retired journalists and student journalists in high school and college to volunteer as writers for Supervisor Engardio’s newsletter. Interested? Apply here. Do you know a story you would like to see featured in the newsletter? Tell us about it here.