Prototype Issue
Multicultural Philanthropists Giving Back
By J. Carlos Perez & Molly Nance
(page 1 of 2)In Rwanda batteries are rare and expensive. Children and women can’t afford batteries. With Hanks’ help the foundation has brought windup radios to the children of Rwanda.
Tom Hanks Radios Africa
Thousands of children orphaned by the 1994 genocide of more than 800,000 people in Rwanda now use these bright-blue self-powered radios for badly needed news and to overcome the isolation and abandonment that leaves them vulnerable.
Freeplay Foundation is a South African organization spearheaded by Sacramento native Kristine Pearson and championed by eco-enthusiast and LA resident actor Tom Hanks, who is its U.S. Ambassador.
Hanks told RealTALK LA he was reminded of his own childhood: “When I was a kid, radio connected me to a world much greater than mine. I imagine the kids in Rwanda must experience the same transcendence on a much greater level. They may, for the first time in their lives, be hearing news and information, getting educated or even just gathering around a Lifeline radio and listening to music.”
Hanks said, “I’m an enthusiast, literally a fan, of the windup radio simply because it exists. The technology is simple, elegant actually. And it works perfectly.”
To date, the Freeplay Foundation has distributed more than 120,000 radios, reaching an estimated 3 million to 4 million people throughout Africa. Freeplayfoundation.org.
Frank Quevedo
Frank Quevedo considers himself a giver, not a donor. He and his wife contribute approximately $40,000 annually to organizations throughout LA County that focus on issues of social justice.
“If it’s not about civil rights, I won’t do it,” Quevedo said.
As the VP of Equal Opportunity at Edison for the past 15 years, Quevedo has spearheaded the corporation’s outreach efforts in helping the community as whole. His intent is to bring outside issues such as gang activity and inner city children’s subpar educational access to the forefront of people’s consciousness.
“I’m not one of those one-night-stand executives who goes to something and loses interest in it,” Quevedo said. “If you really care about doing something, find out what people are doing on the ground level.” A devout Catholic who grew up in East LA, Quevedo applauds those who help others on a global scale, but he prefers to assists his local neighbors on a grassroots level.
“I don’t do anything that I’m not personally committed to,” Quevedo said, adding that his faith shaped his commitment to give back to his community. “It was engrained in me as a youngster.”
"CoachArt’s mission is to improve the quality of life for underprivileged children and adolescents with life-threatening illnesses and give them a respite from their hospital regimen."
As a trustee for Cathedral High School, which comprises mainly Latino, African American and Filipino students, Quevedo is a huge supporter of Catholic education. He shares his time and money with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Asian Pacific American Legal Defense Center and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
Tom Chung
Tom Chung attributes his ability to work and communicate well with others to his diverse heritage: His father is Chinese and his mother is Mexican. “If we could get past the prejudices that we inherit, I think this society has a much better chance to succeed,” Chung said.
Born and raised in LA, Chung said he “wasn’t always the best kid on the block,” but once he got the charity bug, there was no turning back. “I found out that I was at my best when I was helping other people,” he said.
Chung is CEO of Asian Rehabilitation Services, a nonprofit agency that helps people with mental and physical disabilities gain occupational skills. Chung said the agency is unique in that it successfully reaches out to people of various backgrounds.
“We are the only agency in the United States that services the developmentally disabled from seven to nine different monolingual cultures simultaneously,” he said.
Chung has contributed time and money equal to nearly a quarter of a millions dollars over the years. His pledge to create a better LA stems from work he started 20 years ago, working with both the Mexican Council and the White House to establish a prevention policy for substance abuse and successfully leading an anti-gang and anti-homicide campaign in LA.
Discussion