The lack of bone marrow donors within the Asian American community is still a serious issue. Please consider registering to be a donor. Also, if you’ve already registered before, remember to keep your info up to date.

Can’t lie~ this is hard to watch:

Praying for you, Janet.

helpingjanet.com

Topple Hunger in North Korea (THINK) is a program organized by the Korean American Coalition (KAC) to inform the public about famine and humanitarian issues in North Korea, and to increase civic participation in the Korean American community. Currently, KAC seeks support for the passage of the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act (H.R. 1464 and S. 416) that would make it easier to adopt refugee children and reduce waiting time for adopting refugee children. Your support is crucial in encouraging members of Congress to pass this bill.

Click here to sign the petition.

More info coming soon: THINKchildren.org

The clock is ticking and an innocent man’s life is on the line.

For those who do not know, Youcef Nadarkhani faces execution for his Christian faith in Iran. If the Iranian Government follows through with this, they will be breaking the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which allows for freedom of religion. What would you do if someone you knew was in this position?

One thing you can do right now is send a simple email to the Iranian embassy to contest for Youcef Nadarkhani.

This was my email:

Your Excellency, the Ambassador of Iran,

Thank you for taking the time to read this appeal. I am writing in regards to Youcef Nadarkhani’s case. It is my hope that the Iranian judiciary would uphold the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by releasing Youcef Nadarkhani from the current charges against him.

Ambassador, I urge you to consider this matter and to pass this appeal on to your Government.

Sincerely with the utmost respect,

Grace Su

Please take a moment to email now. And do pray and do share with others. For more insight into this situation, please read Pastor Eugene Cho’s blog or this article from The Washington Post.

If you’re Asian American and have yet to fill out your Census form… well, why the heck haven’t you? I have a good excuse cuz’ I’m out of the country for the time being. But look, apparently Asian Americans are the most likely to throw out their Census forms (like how we’re the least likely to vote… ugh)… and we need to change that! Don’t you want a piece of that $400 billion that’s being distributed? But really, the more accurate the count, the better we can be served by our government. For more information, check out these links:

http://www.fillinourfuture.org
http://www.facebook.com/FillInOurFuture
http://www.twitter.com/FillInOurFuture

The Census only happens once a decade. Don’t miss your chance to make a difference. C’mon, represent!

Photo jacked from AngryAsianMan.

The Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF) is a Los Angeles based non-profit that provides a multi-lingual 24-hour call center, emergency shelter, transitional housing program, counseling services and community outreach programs that focus on the needs of victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

CPAF finished in the top 100 out of a half million eligible groups in the first round of the Chase Community Giving contest on Facebook. As a result, they received $25,000 and a chance to compete for a grand prize of $1 million or one of five runner-up awards of $100,000 in the final round of voting from January 15-22. The winners will be announced on January 23. Please join us in the effort to spread the word and get out the vote to help CPAF win so they may continue to better serve the community.

Any and all proceeds earned will be used by CPAF to reach beyond the API community to unify all 24-hour call centers in Los Angeles County. The badly needed funding will be used to create a sustainable joint hotline for 20 domestic violence shelters and 6 rape crisis centers. Additionally, CPAF will extend the hotline services to include online chat to make services more accessible to victims.

Every 15 seconds a woman is beaten in the U.S.
Every two minutes someone in the U.S. is raped or sexually assaulted.
One in three women will be abused in her lifetime.
It happens too often… the silence is deafening.

If a woman has the courage to call, we must make sure there will be someone there to listen.

To vote, please visit: www.VoteCPAF.org

Related links:
Chase Community Giving on Facebook
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/
Center for the Pacific Asian Family
http://www.NurturingChange.org/
Watch the Videos on CPAF’s YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/CPAFpsa

Michelle Maykin, a good friend of a friend, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in February 2007. Right now, she’s down to the last 5 weeks to find a bone marrow match. What makes it tougher is that the match is more likely to happen with someone of Asian descent and sadly, there is a lack of Asian donors out there.

If you’d like to help, all it takes is a cotton swab in the mouth and a little bit of paperwork to get registered as a donor. If you’re in LA, you can go to the following location to register (please let them know you are registering for Michelle Maykin. They will expedite and process your registration against Michelle’s bone marrow type).

Asians For Miracle Marrow Matches
231 E. Third St. Suite G107
Los Angeles, CA 90013

They are open Weekdays, Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM and you can call (888) 236-4673 to schedule an appointment.

If you’re elsewhere and you’d like to help, you can find more info here.

A recent video blog from Michelle:

About Michelle Maykin: ProjectMichelle.com

Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches – Donor Resources: asianmarrow.org/donors

Thanks so much for your time. If you could pass this on to anyone who might be able to help… it’d be much appreciated.

Preserve language and culture!!! Online petition – Say NO to United Nations’ abolishment of Traditional Chinese in 2008

If you’re an AAM reader / supporter, don’t forget to fill out this survey!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=446693357597