Chinese-Americans Lend Hand to Midwest : Disaster relief: Fighting perceptions that Asians are insular, a coalition is trying to raise $1 million in aid for flood victims.

When Salvation Army Capt. Robin Hu went to St. Louis in July, the scenes of watery devastation looked familiar.

One man had spent his life savings on a house that the merging Mississippi and Missouri rivers engulfed to the roof. A woman, rendered homeless, was too embarrassed to request clean underwear.

“Being a Chinese-American, I could understand,” he said, referring to the frequent flash floods that sweep through Taiwan. He recalls that Americans came to aid the Taiwanese during a particularly damaging flood 30 years ago.

But as far as he could see, he was the only Asian-American on the rescue teams in St. Louis.

Hu came back to the San Gabriel Valley in August, where he met with local Chinese-Americans who were already contemplating raising $30,000 for the Midwesterners. Thirty thousand, he told them, would do nothing.

So they decided to raise $1 million instead.

An ambitious project, but these Chinese-Americans of Alhambra, Monterey Park, Temple City and other San Gabriel Valley communities see a great deal at stake: Proving that they are truly American--and truly Chinese.

“The flood relief effort (in the Chinese community) is historic and symbolic,” said Matthew Fong, son of Secretary of State March Fong Eu and a member of California’s Board of Equalization. Chinese who immigrated to America have tended to concentrate on succeeding within their own community--because they had to, he said. “There was nobody else to do it. It was very much a ‘take care of your own’ mentality. But now we’ve taken roots in the community and have become ‘Americanized’ to take care of our neighbors as well.”

Because of perceptions that Asians are insular, absorbed only in their own communities--coupled with the increasing number of Chinese immigrants to the San Gabriel Valley--it was time to “do something to counter the negative images,” said Louis Kuan, who founded Chinese Americans for Flood Relief, a nonprofit coalition of more than 100 organizations. “The idea of us being out only for ourselves is a distorted one. We take care of our own--but we also go beyond that. We are Americans first,” Kuan said.

“We have always been responsible citizens. But in cultural tradition we have not been outspoken about good deeds.”

Since the CAFR got off the ground at the end of August, the group has raised more than $100,000, according to chairwoman Hui-lan Wang.

The fund-raising efforts included business executives, artists, churches, temples and hair salon workers.

Jason Zeng, owner of the two-shop Zen 2002 hair salons, held a cut-a-thon day where all cuts, normally $30 to $50, went for a flat rate of $25, with proceeds going to flood relief. Helen Koo, president of the American Asia Travel Center, personally matched donations made by executives at a dinner party and by tourists, raising $3,000.

Volunteers sat at tables in shopping centers, schools, churches and temples. Several Chinese-language newspapers, including the Chinese Daily News and the War General, splashed their pages with exhortations to donate.

The campaign’s climax is a telethon this weekend, coordinated by two normally competing Chinese cable stations. The Cantonese-language Jade Station in Asia and the Mandarin-language North American Television channel are sharing broadcasts of a two-hour telethon scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Saturday and 7:30-9:30 p.m. today. Toll-free numbers are set up for viewers to buy T-shirts, bid for paintings by Chinese artists in a telephone-TV auction and to watch volunteer karaoke singers, Chinese celebrities and community leaders.

The flood-relief group hopes to have raised its fund to $250,000 by the end of the telethon, Wang said.

Not quite $1 million, but it still appears to be the biggest campaign for flood relief being waged in the area.

“Here we have Asian-Americans so gung-ho to help fellow (Americans), but we’ve yet to have other community groups do the same,” said Marianne Milch, Temple City Chamber of Commerce executive director.

The flood-relief effort also symbolizes a step toward successful large-scale organizing for Chinese-Americans.

“Chinese people have always donated to (charitable endeavors) but they do it quietly,” Wang said. “This time, it’s more than just raising funds--we are here to do something for the country.” She added that it is the first time so many Chinese groups in the area have worked together.

It hasn’t been easy.

“It’s taken all my time,” she admitted with a laugh. Wang, who is general manager of the Chinese Daily News, has depended on her staff to take care of her circulation and advertising duties. “In a way I do look forward to it ending.”

Elizabeth Mack, a preschool director who served as a self-described “grunt worker” for the group, saw firsthand the stress involved in a first-time endeavor, caused by two months of weekly meetings and constant campaigning. “They often needed moral support,” she said. “It took time away from their families, their jobs.”

Differences in language, politics, and levels of familiarity with American society presented problems that the group had to work out, said Sophie C. Wong, a member of the Alhambra school board and CAFR. For example, members with more experience in U.S. institutions wanted to organize subcommittees for specific tasks; relative newcomers to the United States had trouble understanding the complex system for setting up a fund-raising organization.

To keep the organization from getting even more complex, the group kept its efforts focused on the Chinese community despite initial talks with other Asian groups, Wang said.

When the campaign officially ends on Oct. 20, the group must make plans for consolidating the funds, currently deposited in various Chinese banks under the Salvation Army’s name, said Wong. She added that none of the money that was raised has been used on overhead.

Hu plans to lead a delegation to the Midwest from Nov. 13-17 to meet with community leaders there, distribute the funds and help with restoration efforts.

“We want to awaken the consciences of Chinese-Americans that we can organize,” he said. “And we want to return the profits we’ve made (being in America) back to society.”