United Way Drive Sets Record

Substantial giving by Asian Americans, including $1 million from the owners of a Chinese fast-food chain, helped United Way of Greater Los Angeles raise a record $66 million this year, officials said Thursday.

The most rewarding change is not the amount--$5 million more than last year--but the participation of so many new people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, said Dominic Ng, chairman and president of East West Bancorp, who became the first Asian American to head a major United Way fund-raising campaign in the charity’s history.

“It’s exciting to see that many new first-generation immigrants are participating in a big way,” Ng told an outdoor news conference Thursday at All Peoples Christian Center in South Los Angeles.

The facility was chosen to mark the fund-raising success because the 59-year-old Christian center and its executive director, Saundra Bryant, were honored by United Way this year.

Despite the slowing economy and departure of large corporations from the city, charities such as United Way can grow by tapping into small and medium businesses and individual donors, said Ng, who was born in Hong Kong.

In addition to Panda Restaurant Group owners Andrew and Peggy Cherng, who gave $1 million, contributors to this year’s campaign included venture capitalists, entrepreneurs in the biotech industry and “dot-com kids,” Ng said.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Ng, whose San Marino-headquartered bank is the third largest independent bank in Los Angeles County. “This is just the beginning of United Way that reflects the new Los Angeles and in the new millennium.”

With the continuing growth of people of Asian ancestry in the region, Ng is hoping more Asian Americans will participate in philanthropy. By combining their tradition of helping their own with the American ideal of “giving to the community,” Asian Americans can make an impact beyond their numbers, he said.

United Way executives gave Ng credit for attracting a record number of million-dollar donors and securing a $5-million contribution from billionaires Eli and Edythe Broad, the single largest gift to any United Way in California.

“The key to this year’s triumph was Dominic’s leadership,” said United Way Los Angeles President Joe Haggerty.

Said Ng: “Being the first Chinese American fund-raising chairman, I could not afford to mess it up,” adding that the fund-raising was so consuming he even forgot his birthday this year.

As big firms leave Los Angeles, the smaller ones will take their place as pillars of the local economy, he said. Down the road, they also will become the “pillars of United Way contributors.”

Ng used his bank as an example of that potential. Five years ago, after Ng joined the United Way board, his staff raised $35,000. This year, it gave more than 10 times the amount--$368,000.