| Pohick Library Meeting Room 1/2 6450 Sydenstricker Road, Burke, VA 22015-4274
12noon - 5pm Saturday December 12, 2009 | DOUBLE TWELVE (12/12/2009) FCAAHP CHRISTMAS SEASON FAMILY POTLUCK LUNCH MEETING TO DISCUSS "THE FUTURE OF FCAAHP AS A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION"
Note on Meeting: We will start with lunch and friendship chats then begin the meeting at 1:00 pm. The formal discussion will probably be over by 3pm but we have the room till 5pm for more friendship chats.
Agenda 12 noon - Lunch and friendship chats 1pm - Roberta, Ted, and John on the Chinese American Heritage Tour as part of Genealogy Club programs. 1:35pm - Ted will discuss the Census 2010 Complete Count Committee as part of Citizenship Projects. 1:50pm - Ideas for May 2010 Asian American Heritage Month -- Launch of the FCAAHP Book -- 2nd FCAAHP Naturalization Ceremony (5/21/2010???) -- Roberta's idea of "FCAAP Program with WWII AA Vets" 2:00 pm - The Future of FCAAHP as a NonProfit Organization with review of 10/27/2009 draft bylaws. 3:00 pm - Adjournment of Formal Meeting Room is available till 5pm for friendship chats.
Note from Ted Gong on the 10/22 Meeting of Fairfax County Census 2010 Complete Count Committee:
The second meeting of the Fairfax County Count Committee discussed possible promotional activities, publicity and material. As emphasized during the first meeting, local organizations and their established trust with individuals within the communities were important to enable the Census to reach the population. In addition to providing the means --through speakers at community meetings, ethnic media and press-- the message was also important.
The promotional information provided by the Census Bureau should be simplified and produced in different languages. The message also should be shaped to be relevant and identifiable with Fairfax County residents. There was some discussion about the "mixed messages" given to the Hispanic community and their participation by different ethnic organizations. It would be a challenge to assure them of the objectivity and safety of being counted. This led to a good discussion about whom to include in press conferences or as speakers. For example, should or should not police and immigration officials be included? They could authoritatively discount the use of census information for their purposes. But, the visibility of their agencies and their missions may send another message about their presence in any promotional activity.
It was generally agreed that film clips and videos for organizations and media were important. One idea was to record local individuals who participated in the 2000 census talking about the importance, convenience and safety of their participation. This would also help to address concerns that the census might be used for other purposes than counting persons.
Many people at the meeting expressed their need to have actual material to hand out --whether they were printed brochures, coloring books, T-shirts or drink coasters. The County could produce video and some material, but they had no county funds (unlike in 2010) for this year's census. They could offer recording and audio support for other organizations as well.
Other ideas included using VDOT signs and encouraging organizations to start printing the Census logo on their bulletins and newsletters, as well as getting school districts and churches (with their electronic and social networks) to promote awareness of the census and the importance of being counted. Samples of material produced for the 2000 census were circulated. Much of the printed material could be updated for cost-savings and convenience.
It was observed that this year's census will rely more heavily on mail-in surveys then previously. If the surveys were returned timely, there would not be a census taker going to that family's door. This might help allay some concerns about people revealing themselves to a federal government officer. It was also observed that there might be a need to intensify promotional activities to fit the Census schedule. There is launch in January/February, mail-in starting April and collection during summer, followed by a later door-to-door surge. We may have to have a different kind of approach in May and July than we have in January and February.
The County will maintain a web site as a central repository of material and information to be downloaded and used by all organizations, as well as of ideas and activities being done by others.
The County will hold a large publicity event to launch the county's effort. Ideas of who should be included to represent the County and whom to invite (particularly from the media and ethnic leadership) are being solicited. Once this is launched, there will be plans for another county publicity event when the Census Bureau opens its Fairfax office. There was also a desire to have more focused press events for specific groups --whether of Korean or Spanish, etc. press.
(Comment: For FCAAHP, we can support the larger publicity launch and continuous other publicity and outreach efforts. The Silver Lights, for example, already had a census booth at their anniversary event and Heising Lee mentioned readiness to gather reporters for a news stories. We should think about ramping up publicity and hand-outs once the first census mailings go out in April (I think the language schools are worth targeting). Throughout, we can encourage media as Heising and Jackie Bong have done to published articles and broadcast programs (Hank?) about the importance of the Census. More specific, we should consider incorporating an event about the census to coincide with Asian American Heritage Month and our annual naturalization ceremony. Other thoughts?)
At least 140 different federal programs use Census data in their formulas to allocate approximately $435 billion in federal dollars. For Fairfax County, the Brookings Institute reported in December that Fairfax County received $359 million in FY08. This amount works out to be $943 per household in Fairfax, about $354 per person. The next meeting for the county working group on Census 2010 is November 19 at 6:30 pm at the Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Conference Room 8. At this meeting, a draft of the county census web page and key messages will be shared for community input and review. Your ideas are sought for a discussion on the messages and medium and on setting up training sessions for community members/volunteers willing to speak to groups, meetings, events about the Census. Please express your ideas and suggestions to Ted and Cora or join the discussion during the meeting. All are welcomed.
Note from Roberta and Ted Gong on the 10/26 Library of Congress Program to honor "Unsung Heroes" Asian American WWIIVets: The Library of Congress, along with the Asian Division Friends Society and the Veterans History Project, hosted a day-long celebration of Asian-American World War II veterans on October 26, 2009. Called “Unsung Heroes: Asian Pacific American Heroism During World War II,” the program focused in turn on the heroism of the Filipino guerilla resistance to the Japanese invasion of the Philippines; The Flying Tigers, the 14th Air Service Group and the 987th Signal Company in China; the 100th Battalion/442 Japanese-American heroes in Europe; and APA Women in the Military and WWII. Featured guests included Retired Major General Antonio Taguba, the second Filipino-American officer to attain the rank of U.S. Army General; Madame Anna Chennault, widow of Gen. Claire Chennault who led the famed volunteer American “Flying Tigers” in fighting the Japanese in the air over China; L. Tammy Duckworth, an injured APA Iraqi war hero now a Department of Veteran Affairs official; former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, a WWII transport pilot in the China-Burma-India theater; Rep. David Wu (D-OR), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) and the Taiwan Representative Jason Yuan. On display in the Library’s Asian Reading Room are materials donated by the Flying Tigers Museum in Taiwan and the library’s own collection of related books, photos and posters. The afternoon session continued with presentations made by veterans of the Japanese American 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry and a film documentary on a Filipino American woman veteran Florence Ebersole Finch Smith. Congressman Judy Chu provided comments about the true meaning of Asian Pacific American heroism. Moving from the Kluge Room to the Asian Reading Room, attendees viewed displays of books, posters and artifacts mostly related to the Flying Tigers. They heard talks about the book collection's start with donations from China provided through the Boxer Indemnity Fund and about US-China friendship by Director General Tan from the R.O.C. Ministry of National Defense. Congressman Mike Honda made remarks during the closing reception back at the Kluge Room. |