On Wednesday, October 5, 2011, the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) celebrated its 25th Anniversary Caring for Children Awards Gala at Bridgewaters in New York City. At the gala, three visionary leaders were honored for their dedication to improving the lives of Asian Pacific American children and families, and CACF highlighted our 25th Anniversary Campaign – INVESTING IN EVERY ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN CHILD’S FUTURE.
This year’s award recipients were:
- Rocky Chin, Civil Rights Attorney and Community Activist/Organizer
- Jeremy Kohomban, Ph.D., President and CEO, The Children’s Village
- Suki Terada Ports, Founder and Executive Director, Family Health Project
Wayne Ho, CACF Executive Director, stated, “We were proud to announce this year’s group of extraordinary honorees. Rocky, Jeremy, and Suki are inspirational advocates and leaders not only in the Asian Pacific American community but also for diverse communities throughout New York City. At CACF’s 25th Anniversary Gala, we recognized their life-long achievements and celebrated their legacy of improving the lives of children and families.”
Angie Wang, CACF Board Member, and Wayne Ho, CACF Executive Director, kicked off the reception with a warm welcome. A special performance (songs and musical score by Timothy Huang, Kevin So, and Jeff Yang), featuring Anita Vasan, Jaygee Macapugay, Kelvin Moon Loh, Kimiko Glenn, Steven Eng, and piano by Mark Evans, opened the reception. Cindy Hsu, an Emmy Award winning anchor and reporter for WCBS-TV, and Alan Muraoka, most recognizable for his role in the Emmy Award winning series, “Sesame Street,” emceed the event. Special closing remarks were made by Edward Pauly, CACF Acting Board President. Over 480 guests attended the gala, raising over $271,000 in support of the organization’s policy advocacy initiatives and making the 25th Anniversary Gala its largest netting event ever.
The 25th Anniversary Caring for Children Awards Gala was sponsored by the Ong Family Foundation, Tiger Baron Foundation, Walmart, Grace & Mercy Foundation, Kenneth deRegt, Abigail E. Disney and Pierre N. Hauser, HSBC, Poses Family Foundation, Western Union, and Anonymous. All proceeds will directly benefit CACF’s initiatives to advocate for improved policies, funding, and services for Asian Pacific American children and families.
For more information, please visit http://www.cacf.org/supportus_gala.html