The following are excerpts from 10/05/23 DingDingTV:

By Gerrye Wong, CHCP Co-Founder and Trustee

I must share a very gratifying experience I just had being honored along with two extraordinary other women as we were named “Individuals Who Inspire” by the San Mateo Organization of Chinese Americans (SM OCA) group last week at the Grand Palace Restaurant in South San Francisco. At its first gala dinner since the pandemic, over 200 members and friends came out to support the club’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Linda Ng, National President of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates organization, and Aimee Yan, SM OCA president, told that OCA was established in 1973 during the Civil Rights movement as a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Chinese Americans. There are over 50 chapters in cities and universities across the nation supported by the National OCA office in Washington DC.

Longtime news reporter David Louie, as MC, introduced me recalling my work as a columnist covering Asian American news in the South Bay as well as authoring two books: “Eternal Spring,” about new immigrants being served by Self Help for the Elderly services, and “Chinese in San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley." In my acceptance speech, I noted key elements during my career as a nonpaid retiree volunteer co-founding the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project which built and gave to the city its Chinese American Historical Museum in 1991 and partnering with Councilman Raul Peralez and Connie Young Yu in 2021 to encourage the City of San Jose to adopt a Resolution of Apology to the Chinese community for its past wrongdoings and actions towards Chinese as far back as the 1800s. I was proud to recall that San Jose became the second city to officially write this resolution of apology, soon followed by other major cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, and others.