KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
The Kodiak City Council has declared this month Filipino American Heritage Month. Kodiak boasts a sizeable Filipino population, as does the state.
Mary Guilas-Hawver is the board chair of the Filipino American Association of Kodiak. She says the Fil-Am Association has been around for many years, but participation dropped off until 2010 when they revived it.
Guilas-Hawver says the Fil-Am Association does outreach to the Filipino community in Kodiak.
“We provide services through translation, documentation or paperwork that they need for their immigration, their passport and anything under the sun that they would need assistance from us and our members, we are there for them.”
The Philippines’ Independence Day, which commemorates the Philippines’ independence from Spain, was on June 12.
Guilas-Hawver says the Fil-Am Association will celebrate that along with American-Filipino Friendship Day on July 4 with a potluck.
