Pinoy volunteerism in 20th Asian Festival

Jay An Anderson carried by Lydia Reynolds with Samantha clad in a green shirt

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Charlotte, North Carolina --The story of Liza McNamara and Joan Anderson is one characterized by volunteerism.

Who says you can’t help a community if you have a daughter and granddaughter of your own?  Liza McNamara is a living contradiction of that misperception.  Liza McNamara is a beautiful grandmother of four-year-old  Samantha while Joan is a beautiful mother of 20-month-old Jay An.

Both are Filipino-Americans who live close to each other so Samantha and JayAn can play.  They were asked by the Filipino-American Community of the Carolinas Inc. (FACC) incumbent Secretary Dorena Reynolds to volunteer in selling Filipino food during the 20th Asian Festival held last May 18. 

Since it was the first time for the FACC to be in charge of selling food, they had to recruit volunteers to handle the long lines of patrons.  

Liza McNamara and Joan Anderson

Joan didn’t hesitate when asked by Reynolds to volunteer as she wanted to experience something familiar.  

Joan was a volunteer during her life in Valencia town, Bukidnon province, helping out in distributing barangay (village) assistance during assemblies.

Both Liza and Joan decided to take turns babysitting the kids. On the day of the festival, Joan helped prepare the tables and transfer the utensils for cooking at the designated stall reserved for the Filipino American Spirit (FAS) that is used by the FACC this year. 

Joan, the tall Pinoy with long hair blended well with FACC Officers Marjorie Ray, Marissa Borja, Gg Minnick, Muffy Therrien and Muffy’s daughter Miko.  They were all in the front line taking orders, giving orders and answering questions.

FACC past president Dell Fallar was not only the go-to-girl but managed the whole operation. “I made friends and the officers of the FACC who were with me where good,” Joan said.  She said she and Liza worked well together during the whole activity while watching over the kids.

The Carolinas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce and the Asian Boat Race Association organized the Asian Heritage Month which celebrated its 20th year last Saturday, May 18.   The Philippines is one of many Asian countries that participated in the event. 

This year the FACC sold standard Filipino classics like adobo, pancit, barbecue, rice, dinuguan and biko laced with ube and baked siopao to the attendees.  Even non-standard fare like balut and mangoes with bagoong that was personally cooked by Area Rep Liza Salyer were served.

Yes, the Reynolds girls Lydia and Lyndsey likewise helped in keeping Samantha and JayAn busy and happy.  At the end of the day everyone went home happy, satisfied and looking forward to next year’s edition of the Asian Festival.  

Me posing with the kids.