CPC's Queens AAPI Heritage Month Benefit Celebrates Leadership, Culture, and Investment in Immigrant Communities | Chinese-American Planning Council
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. CPC's Queens AAPI Heritage Month Benefit Celebrates Leadership, Culture, and Investment in Immigrant Communities
Main Content

CPC's Queens AAPI Heritage Month Benefit Celebrates Leadership, Culture, and Investment in Immigrant Communities

May
28

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Date: May 29th, 2026

Press Contacts: 

Alice Du, Director of Communications | (212) 792-4585 | adu@cpc-nyc.org

CPC's Queens AAPI Heritage Month Benefit Celebrates Leadership, Culture, and Investment in Immigrant Communities

New York, NY – The Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) hosted its annual Queens Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month Benefit on May 28 at Northern Gala in Flushing, bringing together over 400 philanthropic, corporate, government, and community leaders. The evening celebrated AAPI leadership and raised over $175k to support CPC programs that serve 20,000 Queens residents each year through services ranging from early childhood education and college readiness to senior care, support for families with special needs, multi-social services, adult literacy, and legal immigration counseling.

 

“AAPI Heritage Month is about honoring our past while building our future,” said Wayne Ho, President & CEO of CPC. “We are investing in our community to cultivate the next generation of AAPI leaders and help every community member reach their fullest potential. Behind every dollar raised is a community member story: a grandmother learning digital skills to video call her grandkids, immigrant parents working two jobs who still show up to English class, and a first-generation student landing their first job interview. CPC is proud to stand with them every day, and we thank everyone who stands with us.”

 

This year’s Community Service Award was presented to Leona Chin, a community organizer and founder of Kissena Synergy, a diverse, inclusive, multigenerational, multilingual, and multi-abled volunteer team based in Flushing. Since the pandemic, Leona has helped coordinate free food distributions, organizing weekly fresh produce drop-offs to CPC Queens special needs and low-income families.

 

The Heritage Award was presented to Jay Lau, Esq., an attorney licensed in New York and New Jersey, where the majority of his practice is real estate-based. A graduate of New York University and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, he has a broad-based background having clerked at the Federal Trade Commission and worked in finance before attending law school. He has also served on the executive board of CPC and on several sub committees.

 

“CPC has called Queens home since the late 1970s, growing and adapting to this ever-changing borough,” said Mitch Wu, Director of CPC Queens Community Services. “Every day, our teams are out in these neighborhoods, showing up for our neighbors. This work is a constant reminder of why we must uplift diversity and stand with our immigrant communities and I am grateful to those who paved the way before us and celebrate the strength, resilience, and rich cultural heritage of our AAPI community here in the World's Borough."

 

The evening's program blended cultural celebration with community empowerment, featuring a lion dance by the Tai Look Merchants Association Lion Dancers, a team of young performers ages 6 and up; a jazz performance by the Taweechok Trio, whose Thai name means "growing fortune," and has performed at distinguished Thai community events, including special programs for the Royal Thai Embassy; traditional and modern Thai dance by Sararum, a collective of Thai and Thai-American performers; and a closing special needs dance performance of "War Horse" by Harley Wang, choreographed by Jinjin Li, capturing strength, freedom, and determination.

 

 

ABOUT CPC

Founded in 1965, CPC is a social services organization that creates social change. Building on our historic legacy and ongoing dedication to the Chinese American community, CPC advances the social and economic progress of immigrant and low-income communities of New York through services, resources, and advocacy.

 

關於華策會

華策會成立於1965年，是一個致力於推動社會變革的社會服務機構。秉承深厚的歷史傳承與對華裔美國社區的持續承諾，華策會透過多元服務、資源援助與公共倡議，促進紐約移民及低收入社區的社會與經濟發展。

 

ACERCA DE CPC

Fundada en 1965, CPC es una organización de servicios sociales que promueve el cambio social. Basándose en su legado histórico y su compromiso continuo con la comunidad chino-estadounidense, CPC impulsa el progreso social y económico de las comunidades inmigrantes y de bajos ingresos de Nueva York a través de servicios, recursos y acciones de incidencia.