By Tatiana Ho
Pier A Harbor House by Battery Park hosted the Autumn Festival Fashion Show on October 20th. The event showcases the best in Asian fashion as well as a silent auction that took place in the background. The auction offered a variety of prizes, ranging from two round trip tickets to anywhere the recipient wanted to go (besides a few exclusions) to jewelry and traditional chinese dress called “Cheongsam”. Guests were asked to dress in their best attire or traditional wear while attending the event. The event made sure to keep guest entertained, with a dance number from NYU students as well as a variety of tasty snacks served by the catering crew.
Fay Ann Lee
The purpose of this Fashion Show? A fundraiser for the Hamilton-Madison House, a non-profit organization that provides services for Asian immigrants. Being a non-profit, it is crucial for the organization to host events that would raise money for their cause.
Chung Seto
With the motto “no one gets turned away”, the Hamilton-Madison House has had a big impact on the success of immigrants in America. They are sure to provide three hot meals a day, education, and housing to all immigrants that come to them for help. The event hosted a moving video presenting the work that has been accomplished because of this great organization.
Chi Chu, Chairman of the Board of Hamilton Madison House
With a quick interview with Mark Handelman, Executive Director of the Hamilton-Madison House, AsianinNY was able to get the inside scoop on the non profit organization.
What was the original group of immigrants that the Hamilton Madison group aimed to help?
The organization was originally helping Italian immigrants that came to the United States to get settled, because they were the largest immigrant group in the area at the time. In the 1950’s more of the Asian population started to migrate to the United States, so Hamilton-Madison House began to focus their attention on helping them as well. From then on, the Hamilton-Madison House has been helping Asian immigrants get settled in the US.
Anthony Giorgio, President of Hamilton Madison House
What is the main goal of the Hamilton-Madison House?
The main goal is to help Asian immigrants get accustomed to American culture.
What does the main staff consist of?
We have both professional working employees as well as volunteers. Since the group is a non-profit, most of our work comes from volunteers that come to help with the success of the program. The volunteers are very important to the Hamilton-Madison House, because they are the ones who are exposed to the need in the community. Without them we would not know what the community needs, and we would not be able to help them.
Mark Handelman, Executive Director of Hamilton Madison House
What do you want people to know about the Hamilton-Madison House?
The biggest struggle for us is money.The government funding just isn’t enough to be able to help those in need as much as we would like to. The hot meals the we provide for immigrants, as well as the funding we give them, costs money. That is why we host these events, to gain recognition and raise more money. These events are made to draw people in. We need the funding, because our most important motto is to not turn people away.
The Hamilton-Madison House needs your help. To donate and to see upcoming events go to: http://www.hamiltonmadisonhouse.org/
Emily Mitchui, Ivy Teng Lei
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