Chefs, entertainers, politicos team up
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Special to ASIA
Enlisting an array of top-ranked Los Angeles restaurants and Los Angeles entertainers, Project by Project recently toasted the political empowerment of the Asian Pacific American community.
Project by Project (PbP), a growing volunteer-based Asian Pacific American non-profit organization, honored partner organization of the year, the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE), a non-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization whose mission is to support Asian Pacific Americans.
Organized by a team of Asian American young professional volunteers, the event featured two Asian American celebrities as co-emcees for the evening – actress Michelle Krusiec from "What Happens in Las Vegas" and Channel 4 NBC news anchor Ted Chen. Participating restaurants ranged from new and trendy Hollywood spots such as Beso to famous veterans like downtown's Water Grill. Others included Maison Akira, Roy's, Nobu Los Angeles, Cicada, Fraiche, On Sunset Restaurant, La Cachette, Cafe del Rey, J Restaurant and Lounge, Choctal, Zu Robata, Valerie Confections, Vanille de Patisserie, M Café de Chaya and many more.
Several Asian American celebrities and elected officials also demonstrated support for the event by serving as star sous chef. They included Assembly Members Ted Lieu, Mike Eng and Warren Furutani, representing the 53rd, 49th and
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| Michelle Krusiec and Ted Chen didn’t need to warm up this food-loving crowd. |
55th districts, respectively; Walnut Mayor Joaquin Lim; John Wuo, Mayor Pro Tem of Arcadia; Victor King, member of the board of trustees for Glendale Community College; Ling-Ling Chang, board of directors for the Walnut Valley Water District, and
Andrew Wong, board member of the Pomona Unified School District, among others.
Attendees included a who’s who of entertainment, among them Kimberly Alexander from "The Real World: Hollywood," television actor Archie Kao from "CSI," actor James Kyson Lee of "Heroes" and correspondent/host Victoria Recaño from "The Insider" and "Entertainment Tonight.”
Net proceeds from the event will benefit CAUSE to further its 2008 organization mission.
"The November election is right around the corner, and CAUSE will continue to step up our efforts on increasing Asian Pacific American voter registration, education and community outreach," said Sharon Chen, interim executive director of the organization. "This has been a great year for CAUSE. We’ve had more events and activities than ever, and we really appreciate the support from Project by Project. CAUSE is committed to helping and empowering the Asian Pacific American community to make our voices heard."
For more information about Plate by Plate or about Project by Project, visit http://atb.projectbyproject.org.
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Census is
gearing up
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| Presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about his Asian “connection” – Indonesian sister and Chinese Canadian brother-in-law – at an AAPI fundraiser in Washington, D.C., recently. |
Special to ASIA
When it comes to under-20-year-olds, minorities are the majority in one in four American counties, according to the U.S. Census.
Minorities might very well become the majority far earlier than 2050, as predicted, which is why the U.S. Census Bureau has decided that the successful execution of that task can only be achieved through collaboration with local communities and the media that serve them. This was the message that Arnold Jackson, associate director for the Decennial Census, brought to a New America Media-sponsored meeting recently in Washington, D.C. Jackson explained that data is used by the federal government to determine the allocation of $300 billion annually to state, local, and tribal governments, money that assists in funding the construction of schools and roads.
Jackson said the $13 to $14 billion that will be spent on the 2010 Census "is in no way trivial" and that a portion of the money will be directed toward hiring the local management and community data collection teams. Addressing the reluctance to respond is one of the crucial reasons for an alliance with ethnic media, to explain, among other things, that Census data is not shared with other federal agencies. "We are a not a policymaking organization," Jackson said. "Our job is to count everybody."
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