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Kindergarten students in Pangasinan receive school supplies
Nearly 160 kindergarten students in three districts — Baybay, Laoag, and Manlocboc — in the municipality of Aguilar, Pangasinan received on February 27 school supplies in green backpacks courtesy of the Frenz4hope community group. This outreach program was sponsored by Roberto Villanueva, a Filipino American arts producer, educator, performer, and choreographer from New York. He […]
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Brave girl beats rare form of cancer called LCH
By Sophia Espiritu I was diagnosed with cancer at 9, in the middle of third grade. I had a rare form of cancer that occurred in 1 in 200,000 kids. It all started at 7 years old, with my drinking problem (but it isn’t what you are thinking of!). I was drinking a lot of […]
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Holiday food drive helps families in Pangasinan
Community organization Frenz4hope held a special holiday food drive benefiting 100 indigent families in Portic district (barangay) in the municipality of Bugallon, Pangasinan on December 24. This special holiday program was sponsored by Roberto Villanueva, a dance artist and educator in New York and a spinal cord tumor survivor. Food assistance was given to indigent […]
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Youngest community leader takes the reins of decades-old Santacruzan tradition
By Cristina DC Pastor At the fragile age of 20, Federico ‘Freddy’ Burke became the executive chairman of the Santacruzan Festival, continuing a 44-year tradition started by the elders of Jersey City and the friends of his parents. “I volunteered to become the executive chairman of the Santacruzan and Flores de Mayo of Manila Avenue […]
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The future looks bright for these all-American Pinays
Scholars. Athletes. Artists. Whether in academia, athletics, or the arts, this future generation of Filipina Americans are ever to excel. These five amazing Pinays are freshmen at top-ranked private high schools and highly regarded Catholic high schools in New Jersey continuing to represent well the FilAm community in all their endeavors. This quintet graduated from […]
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Yazmin Wilkinson: A girl with a happy heart
By Vicky Vitug Five-year-old Yazmin Wilkinson, a beautiful Filipino-Belgian girl was named a top model at Belgium Kids Academy. At age 1, she was learning alphabet and numbers from her Filipino mother Diana. The girl who speaks three languages — Dutch, English and Filipino — is now learning to speak French, too. Yazmin hasn’t always been this lively and confident girl. […]
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Classical pianist Victor Asuncion to aspiring artists: ‘Never stop learning’
By Maricar CP Hampton Three years ago, prolific classical pianist Victor Asuncion met a young violinist by the name of Adrian Nicolas Ong in New York City. He learned that Ong was already a “young artist to watch” back in the Philippines and that he was gathering praise wherever he performed. The FilAm Music Foundation […]
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How my Faith, family walked me on my journey to becoming a writer
By Mark Polo Eyo When I was offered the extraordinary privilege to become the Communications Lead for NaFFAA, I asked myself if I was ready to play that significant role in amplifying our voice through writing for our Filipino American community. I felt the heavy burden of following the great footsteps of master communicators and […]
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Albany teen Sophia Kapunan wins Jose Rizal digital art contest
By Cristina DC Pastor A freshman from Albany won Sentro Rizal New York’s Digital Art Contest, a competition organized by the Philippine Consulate, with the theme “Reimagining Rizal, the National Hero, through the eyes of today’s FilAm Youth.” Sophia Gabrielle Kapunan, 13, drew an image of the National Hero using her iPad. The image of […]