By Cynthia Koons
Then when that did not satisfy the Wangs' goal, they doubled and then tripled their employees' contributions.In the end, Tony and Tai Wang, president and vice president of WAC Lighting, presented a $30,000 check to the American Red Cross tsunami relief effort.At a luncheon last Thursday at the Flushing Chinese Business Association office, Tai Wang said she had it in her head that her Great Neck-based company would contribute $30,000 to the tsunami relief effort.”One employee donated his whole $2,400 bonus Ð not even knowing what the bonus would be,” Tai Wang said.In total, the workers at her lighting manufacturing company gave $4,640 of their own money to the tsunami relief effort. The company footed the rest of the bill to make the $30,000 contribution last week.Flushing Chinese Business Association President Peter Koo held a luncheon to laud the Wangs' charity. His organization held a concert that netted $230,000 for the tsunami relief effort in January.”We want to use this as an example for other companies to follow,” he said.It has been two months since devastating tsunamis swept over southeast Asia and East Africa, killing hundreds of thousands of residents and vacationers and displacing millions of people.The Red Cross immediately responded with a large-scale relief effort, while the international community made multimillion-dollar donations to help rebuild the disaster-torn areas.Charity in the form of the Wangs', Red Cross volunteer Sidney Ko said, is what keeps the organization afloat.”Disasters like these take years to recover from,” Ko said. “Something tragic like the Oklahoma City bombing Ð that was several years and we're still working on the relief effort.”In the developing countries in Southeast Asia, Ko said even basic needs have to be provided for before the infrastructure is replaced.”One of the things they need to do is sustain and maintain the water purification,” Ko said. The sea water that drowned out many of the agricultural countries also happened to destroy farmland and erode soils, he said.His organization will focus on rebuilding infrastructure and homes.”I can see the money still coming in for the next couple of months,” he said.After that, he said the Red Cross will have to rely on its own funding to finance the reconstruction.For Tai Wang, she said she was satisfied to have been able to contribute at this crucial juncture.”In my mind, I definitely wanted to give $30,000,” she said.Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
