New York, NY - This month, the Asian American Federation of New York awarded $200,000 in grants to Asian American community groups through its Asian American Community Fund. The Federation awarded the grants to 17 of its member agencies to support a variety of programs such as the establishment of a Filipino immigrant parents' support group, support for a school-based leadership project for South Asian youth, provision of ESL, literacy and job training for Chinese immigrant women, and upgrades of computer systems for a Korean American youth center. While granting its largest amount in the Community Fund's history, the Community Fund awarded $50,000 in women's initiatives, $75,000 in technology initiatives, and $75,000 in organizational development and program support. Since its inception in 1993, the Asian American Community Fund has provided grants to community groups to seed new programs, to sustain critical services for which funding is otherwise unavailable, to upgrade operational capacity, or to engage in program planning activities. In total, the Community Fund has awarded over $1 million in grants to Asian American-serving grassroots organizations.

The recipients of the Asian American Community Fund include: Asian Americans for Equality, Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Inc., Asian Women in Business, Chinatown Manpower Project, Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc., Chinese Progressive Association, Coalition for Asian American Children & Families, Inc., Filipino American Human Services, Inc., Hamilton-Madison House, Japanese American Social Services, Inc., Korean American Family Services Center, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc., Korean Youth Center, New York Asian Women's Center, Refugee Women Council, SAKHI for South Asian Women, and South Asian Youth Action.

Grants for the Asian American Community Fund were made possible through the support of The Achelis Foundation, AOL Time Warner, Avon Products Foundation Inc., C.J. Huang Foundation, United Way of New York City, and Verizon Foundation.

Established in 1990, the Asian American Federation of New York is a not-for-profit leadership organization that serves the greater metropolitan New York area. Its mission is to improve the quality of life of Asian Pacific Americans through public policy research and advocacy, management and technical assistance, and the Asian American Community Fund. Currently, the Federation has a membership of thirty-six human service and advocacy organizations.

For more information about the Federation or the Community Fund, please visit our website at www.aafny.org.