Makabayan Grant Awards Project
Makabayan Georgia, Inc. in the next decade… Sharing is
Caring!
The first and premier Filipino
American organization in Georgia is the Filipino-American Association of
Greater Atlanta. Established in 1974, Fil-Am did not only banded together the Filipino-Americans
in Georgia, it also preserved the Philippine heritage and culture in our youth
and promoted it to the rest of Georgia. Through the years, as the number of
Filipino-Georgians increased and the needs and wants of the community changed,
a great number of quality community leaders stepped up to meet the new
challenges by establishing new groups or organizations, according to
geographical social groups, professional groups, business and church groups.
The Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia was established in 1995
and is one of the direct offshoot from and which complimented the first Fil-Am Association
of Greater Atlanta.
Having achieved the American
dream, most Filipino-Americans find themselves compelled to share this new found
blessings to make a difference in the lives of Filipinos in the Philippines and
in their own local communities.
Thus Makabayan Georgia, Inc. was established in 2008 to empower these Filipino
Georgians and friends of the Philippines in Georgia, to do just that. All
former Fil-Am presidents and some PACCGA past presidents, the Makabayan directors, http://makabayangeorgia.org/about-us
, consolidated their funds and minds to establish a Filipino-American 501 (C)(3) organization based in Georgia, to empower Filipino Georgians and friends, to make
a difference in their communities, in the Philippines, and elsewhere in the
world. All contributions to MGI are tax deductible under section 170 of the
Internal Revenue Code as a Public Charity entity with 501 (C) (3) tax exempt
status.
First
to benefit from Makabayan Georgia was Fil-Am in June
2008, when it hosted the 2nd June 12 Kalayaan
celebrations, with Willy Blanco as president. That set the precedent for Makabayan Georgia be the fiscal agent of the June 12 Kalayaan celebrations to present. The June 12 Kalayaan celebrations is a joint project of the office of
the Philippine Honorary Consul General of Atlanta and the various Filipino
American organizations in Georgia and nearby states to provide a venue and a
platform for all Filipino Americans in Georgia and nearby states, celebrate and
declare our Philippine heritage, as one Filipino community. This annual celebration
is joined by as many as 21 different Filipino American organizations and
churches.
The
Filipino-American Association of Greater Atlanta continues to benefit from Makabayan Georgia through the years, receiving small grant
moneys in conjunction with Makabayan’s scholarship
program and civic engagement program (voter registration drive) and other
projects, totaling $4,700.00 to date.
Because
of its geographical location and make up, dozens of tropical storms hit the
Philippines on a yearly basis. Whenever the government declares national
disaster as a result of a tropical storm, Makabayan
sends a minimum of $500 to the affected areas through a local contact or NGO.
First of these disaster relief donations was to Cagayan de Oro when Sendong hit the area. Makabayan,
then CEO Willee Bonus, taking time off his vacation
time in the Philippines, went to affected areas and distributed rice to
hundreds of families worth, $1,000. Makabayan later
decided in later cases to send help through the “Sagip Kapamilya”
project of ABS-CBN, which has totaled to $1,500 thus far.
Makabayn Georgia first came to the limelight when it rose to the occasion in the
aftermath of super typhoon Haiyan and collected about $75,000 to help the
victims. The highlight of the fundraising effort was the dinner fundraiser in
Happy Valley Restaurant, where the restaurant provided free dinners to more
than 400 donors and raised $25,000 in one night. The collected Haiyan funds
were disbursed as follows;
·
Rehabilitation of
Bethany Hospital in Tacloban
·
Rice distribution
to thousands of typhoon victims in Tacloban
·
Funded freight
costs for over a million dollars worth of medical
supplies and equipment of Yonkofa project, through
the De Guzman Ramos group.
·
Provided livelihood
to 20 families through the “Sikad”, tricycle project
·
Provided seed money
to a number of families through the “Sari-Sari Store” livelihood project
·
Two water
filtration systems to provide clean drinking water to an elementary school and
a residential village benefitting more than a thousand families
Makabayan Georgia, Inc. also partnered with Caring for Others, Inc., http://www.caring4others.org/, who donated 27,000 pairs of shoes as part of
their No Bare Soles project. These Skechers shoes were distributed as follows;
·
Clarkston
International Bible Church, benefitting several hundreds of refugees in the Clarkston
area.
·
Jesus the Redeemer
Church GA (JRTCGA), Acworth, GA
·
Vietnamese American
Community of Georgia
·
Thai
Association-World Center USA
·
Palawan Project of
Emory Rotary through Pia Valeriano
·
Quezon, Philippine
project through Galing Foundation
·
Cotabato Project through Galing
Foundation
·
Tacloban Project through Makabayan
GA (Eleanor Pascual)
·
Zamboanga Project
through Makabayan GA (Didi
O’Connor)
·
Olongapo Project through Bonus Foundation
·
Greece Project
through Harry Norman Realtors
Makabayan Georgia has given small grants to the following;
·
Filipino Student Association (FSA) - $1,000
·
Philippine American Women’s Association of Georgi (PAWAG) - $1,500
·
Bohol Restoration Project - $1,000
·
Caring for Others - $2,500
Makabayan Georgia unceremoniously celebrated a milestone in 2018 (10 year
anniversary of Makabayan GA, Inc.) with the largest
June 12 celebration thus far, with more than 400 attendees at the infamous GA
Aquarium banquet hall.
Going
into the next decade of its operation, Makabayan Georgia
Inc. is launching the “SHARING IS
CARING” Grant Awards Project, to
benefit up to 10 grant recipients, to eligible Filipino-American groups or
organizations in Georgia with approved projects reflecting the goals and ideals
of Makabayan Georgia, Inc. This project is slated to
be an annual project, in line with its mission statement of “empowering Filipino Americans and friends
of the Philippines to make a difference in the lives of Filipinos in the
Philippines and in their own communities”, Makabayan
Georgia brings together the donors and the doers in making such difference.
A
single $100 donation can easily multiply to thousands of dollars when we
consolidate dozens or hundreds of donors. Makabayan
Georgia, Inc. is sending an appeal to all Filipino Americans and friends of the
Philippines, in Georgia to join us empower both yourselves and the various
Filipino American organizations in Georgia to make a difference in your local
communities and/or in the Philippines. There are a lot of worthwhile projects
waiting to be implemented by various organizations, only to be hindered by lack
of funding.
Please
visit our website to apply or donate; http://makabayangeorgia.org/