Avella gave the…
By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
An organization focused on helping the new generation of Koreans get in touch with their roots even as they grow and prosper in the United States was honored for 10 years of service by City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) last week.
Avella gave the Korean American Youth Foundation and its president, Dr. Joon J. Bang, a council citation honoring its contribution to the community in a small ceremony at his office attended by the foundation’s advisory board members and a number of Korean reporters.
Bang, an internist from Seoul who lives in Brooklyn, said the main purpose of the organization was “to let our Korean-American young generation maintain their identity.”
“When you have that identity, it’s much easier to become a good citizen,” Bang said.
The Korean American Youth Foundation sponsors everything from scholarships, career forums and nursing home visits to trips to Korea so that young Koreans can reconnect with their roots.
The group focuses on what Bang called the “1.5” generation of Korean Americans — young and early middle-aged people in between the first and second generation of immigrants, namely those who were born in Korea but received their education and grew up in the United States.
Bang said that population often harbors a dual identity — a traditional one at home and an assimilated one in the outside world.
“They can have some confusion,” he said.
But even with the goal of maintaining Korean cultural identity, the group has awarded several scholarships to non-Koreans in recent years. The foundation began partnering with the public television station Channel 13 in 2000 to offer college scholarships totaling $5,000 to winners of its essay contest, not all of whom are Korean.
Last year’s contest= with the theme “Where were you on 9-11?” received responses from all over the country and many ethnic groups.
“We need more organizations like this to provide services for youth,” said Avella, who promised to seek discretionary funds for the group in next year’s budget.
Terence Park, an activist and one-time Flushing city council candidate who serves on the foundation’s advisory council, said there were 40,000 Koreans in Avella’s district.
Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
