Many of my fellow Asian American bloggers have mentioned this already, but time’s running out so I thought I better get a word in too. The Center for the Pacific Asian Family, a Los Angeles-based provider of support and services for women who are victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, is trying to get enough votes on Facebook to receive $1 million from the Chase Community Giving campaign. To help out CPAF, an all-star group of Asian American personalities including artists, performers, musicians and yes, bloggers in the LA area took the time to be part of the video above.
Here’s how it works: You click to the “Vote CPAF” page on Facebook (you’ll have to approve the Chase Community Giving app) and just vote for CPAF by THIS FRIDAY to try and boost their tally to the top of the list. You can see the leaderboard of all the non-profits across the country vying for this funding (the Chase Trust is giving away a total of $5 million, with $1m going to the top organization and the rest being spread out in smaller amounts).
So vote today, right now.
Having said all that, here’s why this Chase Trust program bugs me: It reduces charitable giving to a popularity contest, and forces hundreds (perhaps thousands) of non-profits to scramble and try to get votes from people who already support them, and people who who’ve never heard of them. I’m sure all the groups on the leaderboard are worthy causes. And I’m sure CPAF is deserving of the $1, or any smaller amount. Continue reading
