The Korean American Community Foundation awarded $258,000 in grants to 14 community based organizations that provide critical services to Korean and Asian Americans in the metropolitan New York area earlier this summer.
Even in a down economy, KACF was able to increase the grant awards by 23% from last year. KACF is led by Kyung Yoon, Executive Director and co-founder: "We recognize that many organizations and individuals in our community are facing greater hardships during this economic downturn. So at a time when many philanthropic organizations have scaled back their giving, we at KACF made a commitment to increase our level of funding this year. We are grateful to our supporters for sharing in this commitment to help our community."
With the 2009 awards, KACF has made more than 60 grants totaling $1 million to 20 community based organizations working to improve lives and transform communities. Kudos to Kyung and KACF for promoting philanthropy in the Korean American community and magnifying the impact of their giving!
The 2009 grantees include the Asian Americans for Equality, Asian Women's Christian Association, Brooklyn Elder Korean American Foundation, the Korean American Family Service Center and others. You can find the full list of the 2009 grantees and their work here.
Asian American funds and foundations like the KACF fulfull a critical role in supporting and delivering social services to the Asian American community. There are very few institutional funders that support ethnic specific community based groups. Hence, these local groups turn to their natural constitutents - those with similar ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Over time, leaders in the community looked at the United Way and community foundation models and decided that they too could create a similar structure that aggregated funds and became a one-stop source for information about philanthropy in their own community and highlight hidden needs. Groups like KACF now serve as the starting source for information about the Korean American community. Their gala event provides a platform for Korean American leaders and others to gather and honor those that give back - hoping to encourage the next generation and others to do the same.
Below are some interesting statistics from the Asian American Federation census report on Korean Americans. I hope in the future, KACF can provide more information about Korean American philanthropy.
* In the New York area, there are 94,711 Korean Americans. They are the third largest group of Asian Americans in New York City. Koreans comprise 10% of the Asian American population.
* 74% are foreign born. Citizen percentage of foreign born is 48%.
* Median household income is $48,640.
* 13.8% of Korean Americans in the New York area live in poverty. One in three Korean seniors live in poverty.
