When our family took a trip to Korea last summer, seeking out Seoul’s only Pomeranian cafe was on our list of must-dos. We found the building where it was supposedly located and in our confusion to find it, we were greeted by a resident of the building who confirmed our suspicions: The Melting Pom Cafe had permanently closed. (Imagine that.)

But the excursion to the far reaches of Seoul was not wasted. After a fun conversation about America and Elvis, this kind man guided us to his favorite neighborhood pizza joint where business cards were exchanged (he was an artist and art professor at the local university), LinkedIn connections were made (he shared his fatherly pride with stories about his stateside daughter, who is a lawyer), photos were taken (of our family and our new smiling friend) and delicious pizza was consumed.

Looking back, it was easily one of the best parts of our trip—such an unexpected ending to a botched trip to a closed dog cafe, all because we were brave enough to try our broken Korean on this man who spoke perfect English.

This month is Asian / Pacific American Heritage Month, which is a celebration of and “tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history and are instrumental in its future success,” according to the Smithsonian Institute. Unofficially, it’s also a month in which we are reminded that the API community in America faces ongoing challenges and barriers related to anti-Asian racism and bias.

For all of these reasons, we’re supporting API Middle Tennessee with our Lawyers Give Back donation this month. Their mission is to work toward racial justice by building API community, lifting API voices and celebrating API identities, and they do this through a variety of programs, including a very cool K-12 book review contest, which is open for submissions through the end of September.

Through a very small, but memorable, act of kindness, our new friend saw four very confused faces and offered guidance. After bonding over pizza, it’s a reminder of the value of kindness and helping others.

For more than two years, Exo Legal’s Lawyers Give Back Campaign has donated at least one hour of work to a nonprofit helping people in our community or in our world. This month, we are proud to support API Middle Tennessee in their important work elevating API voices and experiences in our community.