A fundraising drive will begin April 14 for a planned Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center. “It’s called the Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center, but we’re building the center for the whole community,” businessman Lesther Calipjo, a former president of the Kaua‘i Filipino
A fundraising drive will begin April 14 for a planned Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center.
“It’s called the Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center, but we’re building the center for the whole community,” businessman Lesther Calipjo, a former president of the Kaua‘i Filipino Chamber of Commerce who is heading the Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center Committee, said Saturday.
The community fundraising launch is titled “Kauai Philippine Cultural Center — A Place for All,” and is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. April 14 at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club, states a news release.
“A vision of the Kaua‘i Philippine Cultural Center (KPCC) Committee was to create a facility that would not only celebrate and archive the contributions of the Filipino community in Hawaii on Kaua‘i and in the state, but also the cultural diversity of Hawai‘i’s other ethnic communities,” the news release states.
“This community center and gathering place would serve as a venue for both residents and visitors to interact with each other and learn about the island’s rich multicultural heritage,” the news release states.
Organizers said they looked to the Filipino Community Center located on O‘ahu and the Maui Filipino Community Center as potential models for the proposed Kaua‘i facility.
“We want KPCC built in the lifetime of the first and second generation of descendants of the first wave of sugar plantation immigrants, including the Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Spanish and Puerto Ricans, in addition to the Filipino community,” the committee’s news release states.
“These sakadas and their first- and second-generation descendants would have the opportunity to experience, remember and value this center as a tribute to their challenges and sacrifices made by their fathers, uncles, brothers, grandfathers and great-grandparents. This cultural center would also acknowledge and pass on the pioneering ancestors’ spirit of strength and determination and core values to future generations,” the news release states.
Organizers said the center will be a multi-use facility with space for meetings and special programs and a kitchen for special events.
For more information about the upcoming fundraising event, email kpcc2020@gmail.com or call 645-0257.
