“It’s time for everyone to contribute to the development of the Korean-American community. Please join us with K-giving.”
The Korean American Community Foundation (KACF), a Korean-American organization based in New York and New Jersey, is making headlines for raising a total of $7.6 million in funds this year.
KACF President Kyung Yoon, who visited the Korea Daily on April 24, said that the organization had secured $5 million from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation and $2.6 million from the Korean-American community, totaling $7.6 million. This is the largest fundraising effort by the Korean-American community.
MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the third richest woman in the world with a net worth of $37.7 billion has recently gained attention for donating large sums of money to social organizations. At the same time, KACF raised a total of $2.6 million at its annual gala in New York City on April 17.
Founded in 2002 and celebrating its 22nd anniversary this year, KACF has supported more than 400 projects and organizations with a total of $14 million raised. The organization started with $60,000 raised in its first year.
The money raised is used to fund specific projects or organizations. To keep supporting the projects, KACF accepts applications for funding from across the country each year.
Yoon, who graduated from Wellesley College and earned a master’s degree in development economics from Johns Hopkins, made a name for herself as a World Bank TV producer and as the first Korean-American broadcast journalist at Fox Channel 5 in New York.
“As the first generations retired and the second generation now enters middle age, the need to protect and expand the Korean-American community was the basis for the creation of KACF,” said Yoon. “We launched KACF to build a bridge between generations, to help the Korean-American community become financially richer, and to create a place for communication.”
“Especially among the second generation, there are many people who consider the Korean-American community as their family and have a passion to help. However, they don’t know how or what to do,” Yoon said, explaining the purpose of the organization’s activities as a K-giving pathfinder.
This year, KACF expanded its benefits to California. Six organizations, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC), and the Somang Society, have benefited.
“More than 30 percent of the funds raised went to organizations outside of New York and New Jersey, and we hope to expand this in the future,” said KACF Vice President Brennan Gang, adding that this will help expand networking.
There are some aspects of nonprofit service that money can’t fill. Through its Capacity Building Program, KACF now offers educational content to organizations that are starting or looking to expand their capacity.
“It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when starting a new organization or program, so we offer online and offline bilingual training programs to help build organizational capacity,” said Monica Lee, KACF’s Public Relations Director. “For example, the Somang Society of Southern California has been connecting with and supporting a similar new organization in Virginia.”
KACF has also published a study on the reality of seniors in the Korean-American community nationwide.
“We are planning to publish the research results in May about the Korean-American seniors left in the blind spot,” said Yoon. “We hope that the data will serve as a basis for future policies, especially for politicians.”
Meanwhile, KACF is planning a Giving Summit and Gala in early September in Los Angeles to formally introduce itself to the Korean-American community. To apply for a grant or make a donation, please visit (kacfny.org).
BY BRIAN CHOI, JUNHAN PARK [ichoi@koreadaily.com]
