KACF-SF Community Grants Committee Emphasizes Community
Written By Katy Lim
During my first year participating in KACF-SF's Community Grants Committee (CGC), I chose to learn more about the Korean Center, Inc. (KCI), an organization I was familiar with but didn't know enough about. KCI is over fifty years old and while they’re mostly know for their popular Chuseok Festival, they also run one of the most extensive Korean language learning programs in their very cool building. Sadly, KCI did not go for my request to host a karaoke party in said building but I won’t hold it against them. For my second go-round, I chose to explore AKA-SF (Association of Korean Adoptees - San Francisco), an organization I wasn't previously familiar with. I'm grateful for both experiences, for the friendships I made with my fellow committee members and for the opportunity to learn about the impactful work these under-resourced, determined organizations are doing.
Through the CGC, I got to hear presentations from all the grant applicants, every one of them doing compelling and critical work. AKA-SF, in particular, is a true gem, offering a warm and welcoming space for Korean adoptees in the greater Bay Area.
Within the first five minutes of hearing AKA-SF’s passionate and energetic leaders speak about their mission and goals, I was already sold (picture that Futurama meme where Fry holds out a stack of money). Luckily, my lovely fellow committee members were more judicious and discerning, and after reviewing their background and applicable documents, we all unanimously agreed that AKA-SF was exactly the type of grant applicant that KACF-SF should support.
AKA-SF hosts numerous gatherings for their members for enrichment, education, and sometimes just a good hang, creating a genuine atmosphere of love and belonging. The San Francisco chapter of AKA is one of many in the U.S. but the organization’s reach is global, with chapters in countries like France and Denmark, allowing AKA-SF to tap into their vast international network.
CGC Recommendations Meeting
While it might sound simple, the CGC allows you to go beyond numbers and financial statements to look into the heart of a community-based organization and understand what makes them tick. That is the ultimate value of participating in KACF's CGC. When you speak directly with an organization's leadership team, you hear their voice, their life's work presented before you in earnest. You absorb that shared passion through osmosis, connecting deeply with both your fellow committee members and the CBOs themselves.
But really, the beauty of the CGC is the people you meet along the way. Unlike competitive reality shows, I am here to make friends. On a personal level, participating in the CGC fulfilled my own desire to give back and to sit among others who might not share anything more with me than an ancestral home. Can that tenuous connection become something more substantial? Sometimes, that shared foundation is all it takes to build a meaningful connection in a time when those moments can feel rare and precious.
Ultimately, one's experience with the CGC and KACF-SF in general is, like all things in life, what you make of it. You can gain more out of it when you put more into it. You can hold it at arm's length when you need the time and space away from it. But knowing that it is there for you to return to is as comforting as your halmoni’s kimchi stew. It represents the one thing that even a varied and sometimes polarized Korean American diaspora can agree is invaluable: Home.
CGC Volunteer Outing