Giving Back to the Community for Two Decades

Did you know that North San Mateo County is home to a large Filipino-American community?  In fact, it is one of the largest outside of Manila, Philippines.  About 20 years ago, a number of Filipino-Americans who work at Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco came up with the idea to create an organization that would be an active group to provide opportunities for all KP-SSF Filipino staff to enhance their personal and professional growth and be able to promote and give back to the community.

Malou Aclan, RN

Malou Aclan, a nurse – care manager at KP South San Francisco and Alma Saltiban-Stephenson, an Assistant Manager at KP-SSF’s Emergency Department are among the founders of the KP-SSF Filipino Employee Association (KPFA).

Today, this active organization is operating under the leadership of Kim Cortezano, who is serving as President this year.  The organization has an active core group of 10 KP-SSF employees and gets help from many others who volunteer depending on the event the group is putting on.

The KPFA fundraises throughout the year to raise money for student scholars, which are then awarded at their annual banquet every December.  For the past five years, KPFA has awarded a 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place scholarship to three deserving students in the amount of $1500, $1000 and $750; every applicant is recognized and receives $100.  The scholarship opportunity requires that each student be a Filipino senior in high school and they must be sponsored by a KPFA member.  Students from El Camino, Westborough and South San Francisco High Schools are eligible and must have a 3.0 GPA plus be active in the community.  Part of the competition for the scholarship requires a 1500 word essay with a cover letter.  Each year the students are given a different topic to write about.

Fund raising events put on by KPFA include a Casino Day trip, Kareoke Night and a Zumbathon with all the money raised going into the scholarship fund.  Annual non fund-raising events are the Family Bowling Tournament and KPFA family picnic.

The organization embraces the Kaiser Permanente mission of giving back to the community it serves by volunteering with churches and community groups.  One excellent example is their blood pressure readings, body fat testing for the bi-annual ALLICE (Alliance for Community Empowerment) event.  ALLICE provides domestic violence awareness information.  KPFA was recognized a few years ago by ALLICE as an Outstanding Ally for its community outreach and support.

KPFA has also been supporting PBRC, the Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center for the past three years to help with community education; specifically, for Filipino-Americans born in the U.S. who want to learn Tagalog.  PBRC also provides mental health and free legal services to the community.

Thanks to KPFA for providing quality care and service through its support and volunteerism to the Filipino American Community.