OCA-OC Newsletter – Week of June 1st
Hello Everyone,
I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. I know it has a been a few weeks since the last newsletter went out, but with the short break, we now have more news for you.
I want to start this weeks newsletter on a serious note. Michelle Maykin, a member of our community, has been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia which is a cancer of the blood. She is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant. Michelle is 26 years old — she is an incredible human being and friend. Michelle was first diagnosed in February 2007. Recently, we learned Michelle has relapsed and her cancer has returned. She is a Chinese-Vietnamese American and Berkeley alum, urgently needing our help in giving her a new chance at life. She is undergoing chemotherapy at present but needs to find a match for her bone marrow transplant by June 21st. There are some simple ways you can help. Please go to http://www.projectmichelle.com/ to see how you can help today. I have already registered as a donor myself and I encourage all of you to do the same.
On a brighter note, I would like to remind everyone about the APEX OC Mixer coming up on June 5th. APEX will be highlighting OCA-OC at this event so come out and help represent OCA-OC. It will be a good opportunity for everyone to come and meet the OCA-OC board and give your input on the organization. We look forwarding to seeing all of you out there.
Also, our Huntington Library event is coming up on June 21st. The deadline for discount admission is next week soon so don’t wait any longer. For those of you who have not had the privilege of visiting it, this will be the perfect opportunity to visit a beautiful garden with wonderful people. With the sunny weather approaching us, it will definitely be an event you don’t want to miss.
I want to conclude by recapping on our last event: The APIA Vote Presidential Town Hall. The event was a success in all of our opinions and those who attended and/or volunteered all had a great time! Hilary Clinton addressed the audience through a live satellite feed. Barrack Obama called in and spoke with with audience over the phone. John McCain sent Assemblyman Van Tran to speak to the audience on his behalf. All in all, we were happy to know that the candidates see the importance of the APIA community and took the time to address our questions and share with us their future plans as president. To see the video of the town hall, visit www.apiavote.org. Thanks again to all of those who volunteered at the event!
As a kind reminder to our members, OCA-OC officers are here to help you so feel free to contact us anytime. I am easily accessible through e-mail at yaolee@gmail.com. I am open to hearing from you regarding any topic: from our website and newsletters to suggestions you may have for our organization to how you can get more involved with OCA-OC. We are always looking for energetic individuals to help achieve our mission in empowering the Asian American voice in the Orange County and national community. The information found on this newsletter can also be found on our website here.
Upcoming OCA-OC Events
OCA-OC Highlighted at
APEX’s 2008 Orange County Mixer
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
7:00pm
Chaparosa Grill
2449 Park Avenue
Tustin, CA 92782
OCA-OC will be a highlighted organization at APEX’s first 2008 networking mixer in Orange County!
Complementary Appetizers will be served: Mini Bruschetta, Hawaiian Meat Balls, Spinach Pastries, Creole Salmon Cakes, Thai Chicken Cups, Caramelized Onion Gorgonzola Filo Cups.
The event will take place at Chaparosa Grill at The District with Spectrum Knowledge sponsoring a very generous selection of hors d’oeuvres.
If you would like to attend, go to this link and provide your first and last name. No walk-ons will be allowed and space is limited.
If you have any questions, please contact Leo Cheng, APEX Director of Membership at leo@apex.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Register Today!
OCA-OC and OCA-GLA Friends and Family Day at the Huntington Library’s Chinese Garden
June 21, 2008
1:00pm
1151 Oxford Rd
San Marino, CA 91108
Please join OCA’s Greater Los Angeles Chapter and Orange County Chapter at our Friends and Family Day at the Huntington Library’s Chinese Garden.
Visit the Huntington Library and Chinese Garden at your own pace and join us for some tea and light fare at the Freshwater Pavilion. Given the discounted Admission Fee offered to our group, space is limited. Click here for additional information or to RSVP.
Admission
Adult $15
Children (ages 6-11) $6
Children under 5 Free
For question, please contact us at: contact@oca-oc.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Film: “Hollywood Chinese”
When: Opens May 30th
“Hollywood Chinese” is a new film by OCA 2008 Pioneer Awardee, Arthur Dong. Hot off its month-long extended San Francisco run and international film festival tour, including Toronto and a Best Documentary win at Taipei’s Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese equivalent to the Oscars®, Hollywood Chinese is a “delightfully entertaining” (FilmFestivals.com) look at the Chinese in American movies. Featuring a virtual who’s who of top Chinese and Chinese American film artists, including Ang Lee, Joan Chen, Wayne Wang, Nancy Kwan, James Hong, Lisa Lu, B.D. Wong, Tsai Chin and writers Amy Tan and David Henry Hwang. Also featuring Luise Rainer, Turhan Bey and Christopher Lee. Directed by triple Sundance winner and Oscar® nominee Arthur Dong (Forbidden City, U.S.A., Licensed to Kill, Coming Out Under Fire).
Starts May 30:
Laemmle’s Music Hall
9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills
(310)274-6869
FILMMAKER IN PERSON: May 30, 7:40 pm show only!
Laemmle’s One Colorado Theaters
42 Miller Alley, Old Town Pasadena
(626)744-1224
FILMMAKER IN PERSON: May 31, 7:40 pm show only!
Advance group sales of 25+ people @ $6 per ticket are available here!
Official Website: http://www.hollywoodchinese.com/
Upcoming Community Events
East West Players presents:
Next Generation Community Night -
Pippin, Pizza, & Pop
When: June 4th, 2008, 7PM – 11PM
Where: The David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts
120 North Judge John Aiso Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Join an energetic and outing theatre going community with free pizza & soda pop, live DJ music, a performance of Pippin and an opportunity drawing for CD’s, movie tickets, DVD’s and the grand prize, a Nintendo Wii.
Tickets: $50 Orchestra, $45 Balcony ($5 off for Students, $10 off for groups 15+)
$1 opportunity drawing tickets available 1hr before performance time, 8PM.
For more information, please call East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or visit www.EastWestPlayers.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asian Business League of Southern California presents:
The R Word: Do’s and Don’ts in a Real Estate Downturn
When: June 12th, 2008, 5PM – 8PM
Where: Omni Los Angeles Hotel
251 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Price: ABL Member $40, Non-members $65
The Asian Business League of Southern California is proud to present the 20th Annual Real Estate Conference – “The R Word – Do’s and Don’ts in a Real Estate Downturn”, on June 12, 2008. Featuring the Economic Forecast for the region form Mr. Jack Kyser, the Chief Economist of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, ” The R Word” will examine the critical problems facing the Real Estates, finance, and construction industries, including falling home prices, record foreclosures, and capital markets turmoil. Moderated by Gregory Kams, a partner at Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP the conference promises to be lively and insightful. Last year’s conference attracted over two hundred people, so early registration is highly recommended.
For more information or to register for the Asian Business League’s 2008 Annual Real Estate Conference, please contact Yuko Ebina at (213) 624-9975 or ablsocal@aol.com.
Additional Information
Innovative APIA Youth Vote Grant
Are you an 18-25 year old youth with an innovative idea on how you would mobilize your Asian and Pacific Islander American community to vote? Well here is your chance!
Create a voter education and mobilization project that will get your APIA community to vote for the June 3rd Elections – and receive one of six $1,000 grants from OCAPICA’s Project API Vote to do it.
Project ideas:
* Tabling at ethnic markets
* Class raps/dorm storming w/ Easy Voter Guides
* APIA ‘Why I’ll Vote’ community survey
* Create a viral video
* Develop a TV public service announcement
* Create an in-language voter song for ethnic radio play
* APIA Voter education forum
* Get out the vote door hangers in APIA neighborhoods
* In-language posters for ethnic businesses
* Guerilla theatre
* T-shirt campaign
* Bhangra the Vote/Luau the Vote Parties
… and much more! The innovation is up to you!
What Do I Have to Do?
If you are a youth leader, apply for the grant today! Project must be affiliated with a campus or community organization for the funds to be dispersed to. This would be a great fundraising opportunity for your organization!
Project idea must be:
* Non-partisan and support no candidate or ballot initiative
* Educate and mobilize the Asian and Pacific Islander community of Orange, Riverside, or San Bernardino community
* Have a bilingual component, preferably in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Samoan, Hindi, or Tagalog
* INNOVATIVE! Only you know what will best mobilize your peers to vote!
In turn, we ask that you support OCAPICA’s larger Project APIA Vote by:
* recruiting bilingual volunteers to our bilingual phone bank
* Attending Project APIA Vote press events
* Distributing Project APIA Vote education materials into the community
.
To apply, submit the following to Tanzila Ahmed, Policy Manager at tahmed@ocapica.org:
*
One 500 word proposal
*
One weekly work plan leading up to June 3rd
*
One budget of how the $1,000 grant will be spent
Developed by the Orange Country Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA) for Project API Vote. OCAPICA is a non-partisan 501c3 organization. Materials are created with support from The James Irvine Foundation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Job Opportunities
AmeriCorps Legal Fellow, Orange County Office
Agency Description: The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) was established in 1983 with broad-based support and has become the leading organization in the region dedicated to providing the diverse Asian Pacific American community with civil rights advocacy and multilingual, culturally-sensitive legal services and education.
Position Summary: APALC is seeking an AmeriCorps Legal Fellow who will be responsible for recruiting, training, and managing interns, volunteers, and pro bono attorneys; serving as a liaison with local law schools; working with community-based organizations to address legal needs expressed in the community; and developing and overseeing legal clinics. The AmeriCorps Legal Fellow will also provide direct legal services in poverty law areas such as immigration, family, and housing law, to APALC clients through intake, clinics, and other client contact.
Responsibilities and Duties: The position will be located in APALC’s office in Orange County (Garden Grove). The Orange County AmeriCorps Legal Fellow will be responsible for continuing to develop a new volunteer program focused on serving the legal needs of APA communities in Orange County, through legal clinics and other service models. Start Date is between August 1 and September 15, 2008. Term of service is at least 11 months for the first year, with a possibility of renewal for a second term.
Qualifications:
Candidates should be admitted to the California Bar or awaiting bar results as of August 2008.
Candidates should also have:
* Excellent communication including oral, written, and research skills
* Experience working with community groups, bar associations, and other organizations
* Familiarity with and interest in working with immigrant communities
* Commitment to public interest work and strong desire to assist indigent clients
* Possession of a valid driver’s license, access to a vehicle and proof of insurance
* Bilingual in Vietnamese
* Experience organizing or working with volunteers preferred
* Experience with advocacy preferred
* Experience with Southern California community groups and institutions a plus.
Standard AmeriCorps Fellowship Benefits:
* A living allowance of $22,800
* Health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, parking provided
* Child care assistance (if income eligible)
* A $4,725 education award voucher to apply toward payment of federally backed educational loans and other expenses
* Eligibility to place all qualified student loans into forbearance and receive an interest accrual payment at the end of service
* The opportunity to attend a national training program to develop leadership skills, learn effective practices to accomplish your projects and meet colleagues from across the country
For more information on the Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps program, please go to
http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/programs/americorps/general.
Supplemental Benefits:
In addition to the standard AmeriCorps Fellowship benefits, APALC will also provide:
* $500 per month stipend
* $50 to $125 per month language stipend based on ability
* Bar dues and reasonable MCLE training costs
* Parking and local mileage reimbursement
* Retirement plan contribution after one year
* Staff training in relevant areas of poverty law and other training as needed.
Application Process:
Mail or fax résumé, cover letter and references to:
Human Resources
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Boulevard, 2nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Fax: 213-977-7595
No phone calls or emails please
OCA-OC
Embracing the Hopes and Aspirations of Asian Pacific Americans
Founded in 1973, the OCA is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization dedicated to securing the rights of Asian Pacific Americans through initiatives at all levels of the government. Visit www.oca-oc.org for more information.
Contact Info: contact@oca-oc.org or 13710 Alderton Lane, Cerritos, CA 90703
