Pagbangon [Rise]: For Growth, Healing, and Community Power

Dear friends, family, and supporters:

On October 3rd, 2021, we're bringing the community together for the Filipino Migrant Center's (FMC) 11th Anniversary celebration, Pagbangon: For Growth, Healing, and Community Power. We chose Pagbangon, or Rise, as our theme to reflect our collective victories and struggles, especially during the last year and a half of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a time of growth for our organization and for all of us as a whole, so it's important that we help offer spaces for collective healing and togetherness. Most importantly, this is a chance for us to continue building community power through organizing across Southern California!

This year we're excited to host a family-friendly outdoor gathering at St. Lucy Catholic Church in Long Beach (click here for a video from our last event there in April!). We'll have food vendors, live performances, and different organizations sharing health resources for people across Southern California. We hope that you can join us in making this event a success!

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started last year, FMC expanded our services and played a leading role in multiple Bayanihan Community Response (BCR) networks across Southern California. Through BCR, we:

• Assisted community members with accessing COVID-19 testing and vaccinations
• Recruited over 100 volunteers to assist with mutual aid efforts
• Provided 4,900+ hot meals and delivered hundreds of bags of fresh groceries to families
• Raised over $60,000 in direct financial assistance for Filipino families impacted by job loss, reduced work hours, and other socio-economic issues
• Taught over 250 people about their workplace rights, including COVID-19 protections and laws regarding paid time off. Provided additional resources on housing & unemployment.
• Held programming for seniors to combat social isolation caused by the pandemic
• Distributed over 90 blood pressure monitors as part of our health & wellness campaigns
• Reached out to over 10,000 households in hard-to-count communities for the 2020 Census

We invite you to join us on October 3rd in sharing your own story or hearing from others whose lives we have touched. Here's what a few others had to say in our very first episode of Stories of the Community:

“In my years working as a caregiver I have taken care of so many people. I am so glad that there are also people who want to take care [of] us. At a time when I felt very alone, FMC’s support has shown me that I have something in the community to lean on.” - Veneralda V.

"I'm super grateful for the Filipino Migrant Center because they've really changed my outlook on what it means to create change for the community...it's really giving me a lot of hope and makes me feel that I can also be empowered and empower others." - Alyssa G.

"Because of the Filipino Migrant Center, I feel that I'm not alone here in America...for those fellow Filipinos that are experiencing the same thing with what I experienced before, just stay strong. Just stay hopeful that everything will be ok. You can go to Filipino Migrant Center and I can assure you that they will help you and support you." - Francis R.

There are lots of different ways to get involved and show your support in making this event a success!

1. Purchase a ticket. Prices range from $25-$100, but we also have an early bird special for $15 through 9/19/21 (only available in quantities of four tickets).
2. Donate/sponsor a ticket for a low-income community member
3. Become an event sponsor by 9/27/21 (sponsorship package levels vary)
4. Purchase a digital ad by 9/27/21 to promote your organization or business
5. Even if you can't attend, you can still make a general donation to support our work.
6. Do you or your church, school, or organization want to help us fundraise? You can create your own peer-to-peer fundraising page at tinyurl.com/p2pFMC11. It's quick and easy to set up!

Do you prefer to pay by check instead? To pay for a *sponsorship, *digital ad, or make a general donation, here's what you can do:

1. Make the check payable to: Filipino Migrant Center
   1. In the memo line, write "Anniversary [Ad / Sponsor / Donation]"
2. Mail it to: Filipino Migrant Center, PO Box 9086, Long Beach, CA 90810
3. Send an email to the following people to notify us you are paying by check:
   • JC Edualino (jc@filipinomigrantcenter.org); Rozlind Silva (rozzy411@gmail.com)

*Checks for sponsorships & digital ads must be received by Monday, September 27th.

**To help everyone stay safe, we ask that all attendees wear face masks. We will also adhere to current public health protocols at the time of the event**