The recently launched Filipino American Museum is organizing a benefit party on Thursday, November 21 to support relief efforts for the 11 million Filipinos left homeless, displaced, or otherwise affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Tickets for the event, which takes place at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO and has been dubbed “Bayanihan Spirit” — drawing on a Filipino term for a communal gathering to help build a neighbor’s home — cost $10 and can be purchased online or in person. All money raised will go to the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, a grassroots organization whose “Taskforce Haiyan” is being coordinated by Filipinos based in the U.S. and locals on the ground in devastated areas.
The evening will feature readings, live music, DJ sets, food, and more, with HOT 97 radio personality Miss Info serving as MC for the event.
“At FAM we have the ability to build a coalition that demonstrates a solidarity as New Yorkers and Asian Americans by coming together to support the real efforts for relief on the ground in the Philippines,” said FAM founding member Nancy Bulalacao. “We are artists, writers, musicians, cultural and community organizations moved by the tragedy and looking for ways to express our support. We serve constituents who are directly affected by the tragedy. What happens thousands of miles away resonates directly with us here. The level of loss in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan can be felt no matter who you are or where you live.”
“I join my colleagues in government and all our community members in feeling absolutely heartbroken over the recent natural disaster in the Philippines,” assemblyman Ron Kim added in a statement. “Through the recent natural disasters that have hit our coast in the last two years, we know a fraction of what is going on now in some of the cities and towns in the islands of the Phillpines. As part of the worldwide community, it is important to show our support and solidarity, now more than ever. My office will continue to do what we can to support groups like FAM in raising relief funding.”
Get your tickets for FAM’s Bayanihan Spirit benefit here.
— Benjamin Sutton (@bhsutton)
(Image via Filipino American Museum/Facebook.)
