The Beautiful Foundation USA's 6th Annual Gala

The Beautiful Foundation USA will hold its 6th Annual “I Love Nanum: Beyond Charity Toward Change” Gala on May 31st at the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe NJ.   This year’s Gala will feature Honorable Jane Kim as the Keynote Speaker who is the Supervisor-elect for District 6, City and County of San Francisco.   Born and raised in New York, she has generously donated her time and efforts coming all the way from San Francisco to help our cause.  The Gala program will kick off with a performance by the America Wheat Mission afterschool program.  The group is consisted of youth members with disabilities and they will present a NANTA (Traditional Korean Drum) performance.  Also, various talents were donated towards making this a true “evening of Nanum” – A famous Korean Actress, Ms. Min Jung Suh along with the founder of the Jubilee Project, Mr. Jason Y. Lee will be MC-ing for the night, renowned Baritone Mr. Yohan Park, musical singer and actress, Ms. Esther Kong, and group “Claire” will be also donating their time and talent for this night.  The annual event hopes to raise much-needed funds to support critical community service programs in New Jersey and New York.  

For more information on this upcoming event, including ticket purchase and sponsorship opportunities, please visit our website at www.bfus.org or contact us at gala@bfus.org/201-461-0060.

The Beautiful Foundation USA (BFUSA), a community foundation based in Fort Lee New Jersey, has selected critical community service programs carried out by SAAFE (Save Abused and Frail Elderly) and America Wheat Mission of NJ (a/k/a NJ Mil-Al), to receive the proceeds raised through the 2nd annual Beautiful NANUM (“Sharing & Giving”) Market event held on December 17th, 2011.

The annual fundraising event which took place at the Fort Lee Recreation Center through the cooperation of the Borough of Fort Lee, enabled the Beautiful Foundation USA to raise over $14,000 of which the net proceeds of almost $7,000 were distributed equally to these two local organizations.  

SAAFE (Save Abused and Frail Elderly) which works with agencies and professionals on all areas to increase awareness and identification of abuse and neglect, will be specifically using the funds to support their 3rd Conference “Elder Abuse - Reaching for Solutions”.  The conference is in its planning stage and will include important topics such as social isolation, physical abuse and financial abuse of the elderly in our communities.  They are taking further initiatives to outreach into the Korean American community – the fastest growing community in the Bergen County through collaborative efforts with the Beautiful Foundation USA.  The America Wheat Mission of NJ (a/k/a New Jersey Mil-Al) which works with Korean-American children with disabilities (many of them with down syndrome) and their families, and whose programs were particularly impacted due to lack of funding, will be using the grant to support their critical afterschool program.  The afterschool program plays a crucial component to the overall care for the children/youth who are suffering from disabilities and their families since most children come from backgrounds where it is difficult to receive proper care with both of their parents working full time to maintain a living.  

It is a relatively modest amount, but more important than the amount we were able to raise, by supporting these critical community programs, we wanted to shine a light and bring to attention the critical issues that deserve such attention.  The programs are serving great needs of our community, and the lack of funding due to economic downturns has been making certain aspects particularly difficult to carry out.

The Beautiful Nanum Market Promotes Community “NANUM (Sharing and Giving)”

The success of the Beautiful Nanum Market has been its ability to engage various participants, including corporations, local businesses, non-profit organizations, associations and individual volunteers, to collectively raise the much-needed funds to support organizations that serve the unprivileged in the community, including those helping seniors, at-risk youth, women, immigrants and individuals with disabilities.  Among the variety of donation items, which included food, plants, clothing, and electronic products, was a 46 inch Samsung LED TV donated by Samsung Electronics.

Other participants included H-Mart, 3Lab, Shinhan Bank America, Missha Cosmetics, Locus Telecommunications, Inc., Samsung America, Southpole, SSTS, Metropolitan Plant & Flower Exchange, W Concept, Noe & Kids, Eastern Kitchen, Stein’s Gourmet Café, New Bridge Farmer’s Market, Eun Ha Soo Catering, Big Brothers World, Game Champ, FGS Korean Community Center, EnoB, Women in Need Center, New York Asian Women’s Center, and the Korean American Association of Fort Lee (KAAFL).