The Filipino American Korean Association is holding a fund-raiser Saturday for good causes in the three countries.
Edina Dix, one of the event’s organizers, said that the love-themed fund-raiser was timed to take place just ahead of Valentine’s Day.
“It’s the best time to share love by reaching out to others,” she said. “More than sweet candies, flowers and chocolates, let’s celebrate love in a better way. Love is meant to be shown and be shared to others.”
Jeol Closa, another organizer, said that as many of the association’s members were working at U.S. bases, the group chose charities to represent the three countries.
They are Seoul American High School’s antibullying program; Yongnak Aena’s Home, an orphanage in Yongsan, Seoul; and the Batang Ala-Eh Scholarship Program, a project Closa initiated last year that will benefit his home town of San Juan, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.
Funds will also go to help Lorraine Koerner, an expat with late-stage cancer.
“The main goal of this event is to be able to help and reach out in our community one step at a time,” he said.
The evening will be filled with special love-themed performances by 10 Filipino singers.
They include Loverly San Miguel, who won a singing competition for Filipinos singers who work in Korea in 2013.
Also performing will be an acoustic band and dancers from Malaysia, China and Korea.
The association ran another charity event, “La Comedia de Yolanda,” last January to raise money for Filipinos who suffered in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.
Inviting Giselle Sanchez, a comedian from the Philippines, the group organized a stand-up comedy show, raising enough money to pay for four fishing boats.
The fund-raiser runs Saturday at MoMA HipHop Museum in Itaewon from 7 to 11 p.m. Entrance is 12,000 won.
By Paul Kerry (
paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)
