I am honored to welcome you to our FACSPS Website. It will give the reader a glimpse of our beloved Community. As everyone knows, the spirit of Community is the noblesse oblige of our existence in America as it pertains to the mutual respect and cooperation we extend to one and all. Indeed, FACSPS and its members move in unison to the exciting adventure for the good life in our new country. At the same time we hold dear and showcase in our activities the beautiful and noble aspects of the culture and traditions of our motherland, the Philippines.

To attain our mission, we are proud to continue the heritage of our Community to develop and undertake programs of:

• Imparting constructive and civic-minded citizenship to our members
• Inculcating the pursuit of education and scholarship for everyone, particularly the youth
• Caring for our young kids, teenage youth, and Seniors
• Being active participants in the diversification of our towns and cities
• Donating our time and resources to uplift the welfare of fellow citizens
• Taking care of persons with disabilities, the cripple, blind, deaf mute, and the poorest of the poor children through our assistance to Loving Presence Foundation in Surigao, Philippines;
• Assisting women in our locale and the Philippines in their plight against maltreatment and unequal opportunities in life and in the professions, through the Pilipina organization.
• Teaching lessons in Filipino social and cultural heritage through folk dance, songs, and dramatic arts
• Keeping our mind and body healthy, and fellowship strong, through wellness and athletic tournaments of golf, bowling, basketball and other sports
• And more importantly, demonstrating to the people at large the spiritual nature of Filipino-Americans by being true to the solemn observance of our faith in God.

Throughout the years we have established a tradition of creative and enjoyable activities. They include in the month of February the Seniors program and the ethnic festivals in Olympia and in area schools, the spelling bee, scholastics and athletics awards in March; visiting artists presentation in April; graduates and scholarship awards in June, and drama presentation at Pagdiriwang in Seattle; volunteer work and summer workshops in July; togetherness picnic in August; autumn fundraising ball in October; public TV assistance in November, and the Christmas holiday celebration -- caroling and family party in December. We are involved in civic activities like the call to grant World War II Filipino veterans their health and appropriate social security benefits, civic parades, and assistance to affected areas during emergencies.

Our finances are growing to support our education and scholarship, charitable and cultural enhancement programs. The Paul Allen Charitable Foundation, the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Ganett Corporation and others provide timely monetary assistance. A big boost to external funding came in 2001, with a charitable lead annuity trust through CITI Bank, grants from our own member Benjamin Ignacio, formerly of Microsoft. The latter enabled us to expand our scholarship program and to extend our charitable perspectives overseas with our joint projects with Loving Presence Foundation, and Pilipina in the Philippines.

What do these all mean? It means the FACSPS has proven itself as a viable, relevant, and dynamic community organization that fulfills its role with vigor, enthusiasm, and ready willingness to perform. And there is no limit to what we can if we put our heart and mind to the objective. For example, our members envision a Community Center we can call our own. With creativity and diligence in planning and fundraising, and with advice and assistance of our colleagues in the Legislature, business and industry, we will build our Community Center in due time. And with its establishment, we look forward to the next twenty years of more active and productive programs to fulfill our mission.

I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support of the Community, especially our members, donors, the larger community and the leadership of the FACSPS Board of Directors. Maraming salamat po. Mabuhay tayong lahat!