By Charles Lam
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
The winners and sponsors of the 2012 Diversity Makes a Difference Scholarship organized by the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation. (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)
Over the past 30 years, the Northwest Asian Weekly has spent much of its time and efforts on philanthropy. In addition to the annual programs administered through the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation, such as the Diversity Makes a Difference college scholarships, Summer Youth Leadership Program, and Women of Color Empowered luncheons, the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation donates on average $7,000 to $8,000 a year and has donated more than $2 million in total.
Through the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation and working with various community organizations, we have fundraised for disaster relief for the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Locally, we have raised money for the American Red Cross; Child Haven; Seattle Children’s Hospital; the Seattle University Carolyn Kelly scholarship fund; Washington State University; Nikkei Concerns; the United Way of King County; Refugee Women’s Alliance; groups against domestic violence; the University of Washington Foster School of Business Asian/Pacific Islander endowed scholarship, Minority Affairs, Department of Communication, Multicultural Alumni Partnership scholarship, School of International Studies, and Law School; and many others.
The community is important to the Asian Weekly. We believe helping the community which supports us helps lifts us all up.
“When we first started the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation, we needed seed money,” said Northwest Asian Weekly Publisher Assunta Ng. “Ida Cole had just purchased the Paramount Theatre and finished renovating it. Miss Saigon was opening, and our foundation was chosen to receive a donation. They gave us 600 seats at cost and we sold them for $50, $100, and $200. I was nervous because we had never sold that many seats to anything before, but Vivian Phillips-Scott, one of Ida’s staff members, believed in me and told me that they knew I could do it. They stuck their necks out for us, so I was going to try my hardest to help them succeed. The foundation ended up selling 70 more tickets than were donated.” (end)
Charles Lam can be reached at charles@nwasianweekly.com.