Ronald McDonald House Charities of the New York Tri-State Area (RMHC-NYTSA) announced today the six recipients of its 2012 ASIA (Asian Students Increasing Achievement) Scholarship Program; now in its twelfth year. RMHC-NYSTA awarded $17,000 in scholarship to each of the winning students during this cycle. The six winners were selected from a record-number of applicants –which increased by 64% over the previous year–from the New York Tri-State area and included students from Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. In recognition of their accomplishments, the recipients were honored at the 2012 RMHC/ASIA Scholarship Awards Ceremony on May 18 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan. Hosted by ESPN’s SportsCenter’s Michael Kim, the ceremony was attended by local Asian American community leaders and featured a keynote speech delivered by FOX 5 News medical correspondent and board certified gastroenterologist Dr. Roshini Raj.

Seeking to invest in students who are exemplary role models in their communities and have the initiative to fulfill their education goals, the RMHC/ASIA Scholarship Program is the largest scholarship offered to Asian students in the New York Tri-State area. The program awards six students $5,000 for their freshman year, followed by $4,000 for each of the following three, consecutive, subsequent years (for a total of $17,000) as long they meet a required GPA.
To learn more about the RMHC/ASIA Scholarship Program, visit www.rmhc.org.

“In recent years, the RMHC/ASIA Scholarship Program has experienced unprecedented growth; not only in the number of students applying but also the scope of our outreach and awards ceremony,” said Diane Piraino Koury, president of Ronald McDonald House Charities of the New York Tri-State Area. “We owe this honor to the support of the Asian American community and our marvelous community partners who have helped us promote this scholarship program to the students and families who need it most.”

Below are the winners of the 2012 RMHC/ASIA Scholarship Program:

• Yanling Dong, 20, of Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, in Bayside, NY, volunteers at New York Hospital and is a member of Math Prize for Girls. She will attend Cornell University to major in Biomedical Engineering.
• Amanda Fong, 18, of Brooklyn Technical High School, in Brooklyn, NY, volunteers at the American Museum of Natural History and is a member of her school’s UNICEF club. She will attend Columbia University to major in Psychology.

• Jin Bin Lin, 20, of Franklin D. Roosevelt High School, in Brooklyn, NY, volunteers at the Ai Jia Center and was the treasurer of her school’s Chinese Culture Club. He and will attend Binghamton University to major in Biomedical Engineering.

• Bill Ling, 18, of Stuyvesant High School in New York, NY, plays both Varsity Football and Lacrosse and volunteers at the Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition. He will attend Yale University to major in Chemical Engineering.

• Ana Christina Reyes, 19, of Union City Academy for Allied Health Sciences in Scotch Plains, NJ, is President of her school’s Class Council as well as the National Honors Society. She will attend the University of Pennsylvania to major in Biology.

• Jiayin Wu, 18, of Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, NY, is secretary of her school’s Chinese Culture Club and volunteers at the Red Apple Child Development Center as a teacher assistant. She will attend New York University to major in Biology.

About RMHC Scholarship Programs
RMHC and its local Chapters provide aid to outstanding graduating high school students who cannot afford the cost of a college education and strive to offer these students the chance to fulfill their educational goals to become the future leaders of tomorrow. The scholarships are distributed based on demonstrated academic achievement, financial need and community involvement. RMHC began its support of scholarship programs in 1985 by committing $50,000 toward the first scholarships awarded through the Hispanic American Commitment to Educational Resources (HACER) program. In 2001, the program began with the RMHC/ASIA (Asian Students Increasing Awareness) and the RMHC/AAFA (African American Future Achievers Scholarships). By 2007 the U.S. RMHC Scholarship Program had awarded more than $29 million in scholarships. To date, RMHC National has awarded more than $32 million to help high school seniors attend college.

About Michael Kim
Michael Kim is the lead presenter for SportsCenter on ESPN America, the network dedicated to fans of U.S. sports, which reaches more than 18 million homes across more than 40 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Kim joined ESPN as one of the original presenters on ESPNEWS prior to its November 1, 1996 launch. In his more than 14 years at ESPN, he has also contributed as an anchor to ESPN’s US edition of SportsCenter and other ESPN news and information programming including First Take, NHL Tonight and more. A native of Columbia, Mo., Kim earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science and business administration from Westminster College (Fulton) in 1987 and a master of arts degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1991. In May 2008, Kim also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Westminster College.

About Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa (Dr. Raj)
Roshini Rajapaksa, MD (Dr. Raj) is WNYW-TV/Fox 5’s medical correspondent. She contributes feature and informational stories on the latest medical advances and the health care industry to Good Day New York. Rajapaksa holds a Medical Degree from New York University School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Harvard College. She is a board certified gastroenterologist and internist practicing at NYU Trinity Center, and is currently an attending physician at NYU Langone Medical Center/Tisch Hospital, where she was the first female gastroenterologist to join the faculty. Dr. Raj has served as a medical contributor for “The Today Show” and contributing medical editor for Health magazine. She is the author of “What the Yuck?! The Freaky & Fabulous Truth About Your Body.” She has also published several research articles in the area of colon cancer screening.

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About Ronald McDonald House Charities of the New York Tri-State Area
The Ronald McDonald House Charities of the New York Tri-State Area is working to better the lives of children and their families in our community, by creating and supporting programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children in the areas of health, education, the arts, civic and social services. Since 1992, RMHC-NYTSA has provided more than $10 million dollars to local non-profit organizations whose programs improve the well-being of children and their families. For further information on Ronald McDonald House Charities of the New York Tri-State Area, visit www.rmhcnewyorktri-state.org or contact 973-287-1476.