Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a rich heritage dating back thousands of years. Both have shaped the history of the United States while having their lives dramatically influenced by moments in its past. To support the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, the New York Knicks and Fidelis Care are extremely proud to donate $10,000 to Asian Americans for Equality and their Summer Youth Program: Community Engagement.
Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) is a non-profit organization based in New York City whose main goal is to advance racial, social, and economic justice for Asian Americans and other systematically disadvantaged families where supplemental enrichment activities and extracurricular opportunities are beyond their financial means. The organization works with four local high schools in Flushing, Queens to offer students and parents programming focused on leadership development, college and career readiness, service learning and parent education.
AAFE’s Youth Leadership program serve 115 high school students annually, providing after school programming, including one-on-one education and career counseling, skills-building activities, and leadership projects. Students within AAFE’s programs were impacted heavily by the pandemic over this last year, where virtual learning was not feasible for most because of the lack of home computers. While AAFE has not historically offered summer youth programming, there is a clear need for this due to Covid-19 and its impact across New York.
Fidelis Care and the Knicks are extremely proud to donate to AAFE and their Summer Youth Programming. This contribution will go towards AAFE’s program activities which include community outreach, volunteers for community markets and AAFE’s Chinese Food Pantry, self-defense and meditation training, college campus field trips, academic support, and family-oriented activities. The AAFE Youth Program will also be distributing personal safety alarms to both seniors and restaurant workers who have been affected by Asian Hate Crimes. In addition to the $10,000 donation, the New York Knicks plan to make an appearance at an AAFE resource fair later this summer. For more information on AAFE and its programs, or to find out how you can get involved, visit https://www.aafe.org.
