MinKwon Center for Community Action hosts Exciting GOTV Activities
Hi all,
MinKwon Center needs your help! With less than 3 weeks left until the State Primary Elections on Thursday, September 13th, we are gearing up for our GOTV work to conduct phone banking and door knocking. For the first time ever, we are voting for our next State Senators and Assembly members in newly drawn districts. Now more than ever, it is critical that we have a large Asian American presence at the elections. Here is what you can do:
Join the MinKwon Center for Community Action for some Exciting GOTV Activities!
Phone Banking
- Wednesday, Aug. 29th, 6:00PM MinKwon Center
- Tuesday, Sept. 4th, 6:00PM MinKwon Center
- Thursday, Sept. 6th 6:00PM MinKwon Center
- Monday, Sept. 10th, 6:00PM MinKwon Center
- Wednesday, Sept. 12th, 6:00PM MinKwon Center
Door Knocking
- Thursday, Aug. 30th, 6:00PM Meet at MinKwon Center
- Wednesday, Sept. 5th, 6:00PMMeet at MinKwon Center
- Sunday, Sept. 9th, 4:00PMMeet at MinKwon Center
- Tuesday, Sept. 11th, 6:00PMMeet at MinKwon Center
If you are interested in volunteering, please let us know today! Dinner will be provided as well as community service credit if applicable. Please forward this email to anyone who would like to get involved and gain important electoral experience. Don’t miss your chance to make a difference in these historic elections!
KALCA Voting Initiatives
KALCA is pleased to announce the kick-off to a series of voting initiatives beginning this month until November 6, Election Day!
We will be collaborating with the MinKwon Center to coordinate activities such as registering voters, phone banking, door knocking, and conducting voter education workshops, and we need your help. If you are able to volunteer a few hours of your time during the duration of now until November, we need people to assist us with calling registered voters and going door-to-door to remind them to vote. We will also need volunteers to help us with setting up and organizing our outreach programs and workshops during which we hope to educate people about the voter registration process and the importance of casting their ballot.
If you are a high school student, you may be eligible to receive community service credit as a volunteer. This is a great way to gain hands-on experience in the political process while learning key communication and organizational skills.
Whether you are a working professional, a college student or a high school student, your help will be invaluable in getting more Asian American votes out this election year. If you are interested in volunteering, please send an email to [email protected].
SAVE THE DATE
Volunteer opportunities (you do not have to participate in all events)
Volunteer opportunities (you do not have to participate in all events)
Door knocking in Flushing, Queens with MinKwon Center- Thursday, 8/30 from 6-9PM;Wednesday, 9/5 from 6-9PM;Sunday, 9/9 from 4-8PM and Tuesday, 9/11 from 6-9PM
Wednesday, September 12, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm – Phone banking to Get out the Vote, location will be in Manhattan
Tuesday, September 18, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm – Voter outreach/workshop for volunteers and community members, location will be in Manhattan
Saturday, October 27, time TBA, Door knocking in Flushing, Queens
KALCA 2012 Voter Engagement Interns/Coordinators: Hannah Kang, 2010 College Internship Program Alumna and Angela Choi, 2011 Civic Leadership Program Alumna
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Message from the 
On Thursday, September 13, New York will hold primary elections for state Senate, Assembly, and other state offices. We know you’re a registered voter. But what about your friends? In June’s Congressional primary elections, fewer than 10 percent of eligible New Yorkers voted. That means nine out of ten potential voters stayed home.
They say turnout will be low again in September, but we know that New Yorkers can do better!
They say turnout will be low again in September, but we know that New Yorkers can do better!
You can help. Please forward this email to your friends and encourage them to register and vote! Voter registration formscan be downloaded from our website. New Yorkers may also visit their local libraries or post offices to pick up a form. Not sure if you are registered to vote? Use the NYS BOE voter look-up to find out!
AABANY Testifies at City Council Districting Commission
On August 16, AABANY, through its Executive Director Yang Chen, gave testimony at a public hearing convened by the City Council Districting Commission. AABANY testified as a member of ACCORD, the Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy, and urged the Commission to draw lines that kept communities of interest together in Manhattan. Citing the Voting Rights Act and applicable Supreme Court precedent, AABANY indicated that the current district lines in Chinatown and the Lower East Side may not comport with legal requirements. As part of its testimony, AABANY submitted a copy of its March 2003 letter to the Department of Justice, which dealt with the same issue. To read the testimony and the letter, go to bit.ly/blog_Testimny_CityCnclDstrctngComm
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On Thursday, August 16, 2012, AABANY members enjoyed lively company and great food at Stitch Bar and Lounge on West 37th Street near 8th Avenue in Manhattan. The “Get to Know AABANY Summer Social,” co-sponsored by AABANY’s Women’s, Immigration and Nationality Law, and Student Outreach Committees, drew over 40 members to the spacious midtown lounge. Special thanks to Women’s Committee member Rebecca Ulich for her assistance in organizing the event. Thanks to Women’s Committee co-chair Liza Sohn for the photos.
Legal Outreach Volunteering Opportunity
Sheila Bautista, AABANY member and prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s office, shares the following volunteer opportunity with us:
Since 1983, Legal Outreach has provided underserved minority students in New York City with the academic support and mentorship they deserve. As rising ninth graders, students begin the program by participating in the Summer Law Institute, a five-week program that concludes with a mock trial in front of a real judge in a real courtroom. In high school, students participate in Legal Outreach’s College Bound program, a rigorous college preparatory track of after-school tutoring, Saturday writing classes, SAT preparation, mock trials and debates, life skills courses, internships, and mentoring from staff, law students, and professional attorneys.
Legal Outreach is currently seeking to recruit volunteer attorneys to serve as mentors to students participating in its Constitutional Law Debate program, one of the key components of the College Bound Program. This is an excellent opportunity to participate in a rewarding program with proven results—100% of Legal Outreach students graduate high school in four years, compared to 59% of New York City students. Over 99% of Legal Outreach graduates have matriculated at four-year colleges and 68% percent matriculate at highly selective colleges, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, University of Michigan, Smith, and Wesleyan.
One of Legal Outreach’s defining goals is to increase diversity within the legal profession. According to the American Lawyer Diversity Scorecard 2010, the percentage of minority lawyers at large firms dropped for the first time in recent memory this past year, now standing at only 13.4%. The raw number of Asian-American lawyers dropped the most, by 556 attorneys. While the proportion of minorities enrolled in law school and employed in the legal profession has always been low compared to minority representation in the overall population, this negative trend needs to be combated. By providing minority students with an early-intervention program to bolster academic preparation and vision, Legal Outreach is working to raise these numbers. Legal Outreach has been recognized by the American Bar Association as an outstanding pipeline diversity program and by American Lawyer as “arguably the legal profession’s best example of an early-intervention pipeline program—and one of the few with a long-term track record.” In fact, nearly 15% of our College Bound students go on to become practicing attorneys.
To learn more and apply to volunteer with Legal Outreach, please visit our website at www.legaloutreach.org or e-mail Ariel Joseph, Esq. at [email protected].
KALCA Volunteering Opportunity
Want to get involved with the NYC community? Then join KALCA as we volunteer for God’s Love We Deliver, a non-religious non-profit organization that provides healthy and balanced meals and nutritional counseling for people with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses.
Volunteer will help prepare meals in the kitchen. Your time and your care can really make the difference in these people’s lives.
When: Sunday, September 16, 1:30pm-4:30pm.
Where: Soho at 166 Avenue of the Americas (@ Spring Street).
Please RSVP by 8/31 to Esther Hong at [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering.