Scenes From the First-Ever “Filipino Pride in America” at Club LaBoom in Woodside, Queens.
(Photos by Jose Mercado)
Filipino fervor was on full display last Friday, as the first installment of “Filipino Pride in America“ saw a large gathering of kababayans in celebration of all things Pinoy.
It was all smiles, photo poses, singing in unison and a lot of Lechon.
It’s your typical Filipino party, really.
As featured in the night’s festivities, music, art, photography and fashion were well-represented by some of New York’s best and brightest. The PPA Board, headed by Co-Founders Rena Avendula (Owner, Payag Restaurant) and Harold Clavite (Communications Director for GK-USA) has begun the work in bringing to light some of these talented individuals, all in an effort to promote unity, culture and collaboration among Filipino-Americans.
Clavite, who serves as the President of Pinoy Pride sa America Inc. has been a strong proponent of promoting Filipino culture. He stated, “We believe that through these collaborations with Filipino artists, community leaders, businesses, and non-profit organizations, we would be able to help promote the works of Filipino talents, designers and artists in America and, at the same time, support the efforts of those who are just starting to make a name in the field of fashion, arts & music.”
The New York FilHarmonic Band and legendary Pinoy rock group ‘Ageis’ performed sets to the delight of the crowd, fashion designers Darius Gibbs and Anna Puruganan graced the stage with their respective teams of models, and the works of featured photographers Girlie Asehan, Rex Romero, Gerson Abesamis, May Coscolluela and Gretchen Pangilinan and artists Sheila May Advento and Ernest Concepcion were on display in a gallery that was made available for attendees to check out.
Filipino Pride in America is a project in conjunction with partnerships from Gawad Kalinga USA, the JCI Philippine-New York (Jaycees), and GPE-NY, and was conceptualized by Ms. Rena Avendula and HRS Innovates LLC. Mr. Clavite also mentioned in the press release for the event:
“The maiden event this year seeks to support Gawad Kalinga USA for the construction of a multi-purpose facility in flood-affected Mindanao. In addition, the event will support a supplemental feeding program that will be organized in Baroy, Lanao del Norte in Mindanao later this year to help combat malnutrition among school children.”
See the photos after the jump, and the full photo set on the Wika Magazine Facebook Page.
For more information on the event, you can check out PinoyPrideSaAmerica.com
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