So last Friday I attended APM's 33rd Annual Gift of Love Children's Christmas Benefit. At first I thought it would just be a sit down and that's it but soon I realized the opportunity it truly was.
First off, APM:
Before the creation of Asociación de Puertorriqueños en Marcha, Inc. (APM, Inc.), basic social services were practically non-existent for Philadelphia’s Latinos. Few resources flowed into the community and residents were overlooked and politically marginalized. In the critical areas of child welfare, mental health, and mental retardation there were few caseworkers and therapists who could actually speak to many of their clients.
In 1970, a group of Puerto Rican social activists sought to energize the community and help bring to it a fair share of resources from the majority culture. The success of APM is the result of those efforts.
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This past summer, my fraternity helped APM during their annual sugar cane festival. As a result, we were able to obtain tickets. Although Temple's Greek Showcase was the same day, we divided and conquered. Representing GPS was Charlie, Rafael and me; there was also a Temple table haha. Anyways, little did I realized the connections Gamma Phi Sigma had.
Who did we share a table with??? It was the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, Rafael's current job haha. I met a lot of good people from there and this woman (Maitreyi Roy) even knew some of the older brothers! She used to work with Norris Square and she said, "The guys in the purple house." Crazy i know. She even worked with my job too.Random note of the night: The leader of Kenya was there too lol.
Anyway, it was a great event. All the important people we knew were there included Maria Quiñones-Sanchez, Nelson Diaz, and members of the media who I work with from Al Dia, Impacto, 6ABC, Univision.
The best part...NCLR's Pres/CEO's speech. All I can say is WOW. I felt so empowered, I could've easily just decided to run for Pres haha. She was truly a motivational speaker.
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