My goals for the Filipino American Society of Fairbanks, Inc.

My foremost objective is to foster cohesiveness, friendship, and cooperation among all Filipino families in our community. Fil-Am is a haven to teach, practice and showcase our proud culture especially to our children who are growing up in America. It is a place where our fellowship welcomes new arrivals and comforts fellow members when down.
 

• I want to continue and expand the effectiveness of our civic and fund-raising activities by bringing them to the forefront of our leadership and setting goals and oversight to achieve them.
• I promise to lead our elected body by example and in accordance with our By-Laws. I will recruit a group of members and charge them to make a comprehensive review and update of Fil-Ams's Organization Documents, especially our By-Laws to include recent adopted amendments.
• I will effect a membership recruitment program that reaches out to all Filipinos in our community, and especially to military service members during their tour of duty here in the Interior.

My plan to maintain the organizations' 501 ( c ) (301) status and what would I do to take advantage of its status:

"The exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals. The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency"
The above activities are what qualifies an organization's status under section 501(c)(3). An organization established to promote 'social' activities is 501(c)(4) and does not have tax exempt status. Therefore it is imperative to understand and take our (c)(3) status seriously, as well as take advantage of its privileges beyond tax exemption - such as grants, etc.
The group selected to review Organizational Documents will include reviewing this status with the goal of strengthening our qualifiers. They will prepare a written compliance guideline to consult when planning activities; and suggestions for expanding our scope of activities to enhance our Fil-Fam family.

I will demonstrate my commitment to the Filipino American Society of Fairbanks :

Accepting this nomination demonstrates my initial commitment to this organization. I believe my organizational skills are exemplary - I have a long list of professional and civic achievements to back my claim up. I have lived in this community for over four decades. It is here that I raised my family; go to church; earned two professional retirements; and own commercial property and operate a business. I have been an active member in the Filipino American Society of Fairbanks since 1995 and held offices - including President. I am now going on 70 years of age - and still challenge anyone to keep up. Lastly, I will assign Bob as the Project Manager for building the Fil-Am float for the Golden Days Parade, (if you recall Fil-Am won First Prize when Bob designed and executed "FISH-ON" with the help of Fil-Am members :).

Betsy Engle
President
Filipino American Society of Fairbanks