ASIAN HEALTH SERVICES 44th ANNUAL GALA
Celebrating Community, Honoring One Nation of Immigrants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 8, 2018
Contact: Jennifer Mou
Email: jmou@ahschc.org
Tel: 510-381-8329
OAKLAND, California – (Saturday, September 8, 2018) — Celebrating 44 years of compassionate care and community advocacy, Asian Health Services (AHS) hosts its Annual Gala Benefit on September 8, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. at the Oakland Marriot City Center. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-13), Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Supervisor Wilma Chan, Supervisor Keith Carson, civic leaders, and supporters, join forces to celebrate Community Legacy and highlight community leaders who are strengthening our community, its heritage, culture, and history for now and generations to come.
This year’s event honors Albert Wong and Kam Tam, President and Vice President, respectively, of New Oakland Pharmacy. Both long-time champions for the medically underserved community, they have dedicated their lives to serving low-income limited English speaking communities through their pharmaceutical services, and also to ensuring immigrants and community members have the opportunity to pursue and sustain a healthy life. Drs. Wong and Tam ensure that their staff is comprised of local community members staff with an emphasis on engaging the younger generation of workforce members to carry Oakland Chinatown’s deep and rich history forward.
“We are so proud to uplift these two community leaders who have been courageous in advocating for the rights and for the health of the medically underserved community,” Sherry Hirota, Asian Health Services’ Chief Executive Officer said, “Asian Health Services is committed to achieving the highest level of health and well-being for our community – Dr. Tam and Dr. Wong exemplify exactly that. In these critical times of national tumult and ongoing assaults on immigrants and the Asian Pacific Islander communities, we look to local leaders like Drs. Kam and Wong, to inspire us. They are successful, and they have overcome daunting challenges, but just as important, they always remember their immigrant beginnings, and they portray their deep empathy and community values by in turn lifting up those who follow in their path.“
“Healthy citizens equate to healthy communities. That is a sentiment I hold very near and dear to my heart,” Kam said, “AHS plays a vital role in doing exactly that, and I could not be more proud to be working harmoniously with AHS in making this vision of a healthy community come to fruition.”
Asian Health Services pays tribute to its investors and community partners: Kaiser Permanente, Cathay Bank, New Oakland Pharmacy and HealthMart Pharmacy. “We are proud to support the work of Asian Health Services in providing vital care for the community. As a health care organization, we share a common vision of total health for mind, body, and spirit,” said Jeff Collins, Senior Vice President and Area Manager for Kaiser Permanente in the East Bay.
“I am excited that this gala will help support the $2 million Pediatric and Family Care Center Campaign, which will provide a valuable medical hub focusing on whole patient care,” Supervisor Wilma Chan said, “I wish you a successful Annual Gala and look forward to continuing our shared work to protect our most vulnerable community members’ access to affordable, quality health care.”
This year, Asian Health Services’ Gala will feature the likes of Mike Inouye, NBC Bay Area Traffic Anchor, Franco Finn, the “Golden State Warriors Hype Man,” the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts World Music & Dance, and the Ben Luis Group.
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For additional information about the tournament, visit: https://asianhealthservices.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/2018AnnualGala/tabid/969324/Default.aspx
About Asian Health Services
Founded in 1974, AHS is a community health center that provides primary, dental and behavioral health services to underserved families of Oakland and surrounding communities in English and 14 different Asian languages (Cantonese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Khmer, Korean, Tagalog, Mien, Lao, Mongolian, Karen, Karenni, and Burmese). We currently serve more than 27,000 patients with medical, dental and behavioral providers, patient navigators, on‐site interpreters, health coaches, perinatal counseling and labor coaches. We also advocate and empower our patients and our community through advocacy, education and community programs. As a nationally recognized community health center model, AHS stands at the forefront of quality and innovation.