Duluth, December 13, 2019 — Two nationally recognized Asian American entertainers including comedian Henry Cho and Filipino-singer Angelica Hale from America's Got Talent headlined a literacy fundraiser for immigrant children and family.
The fundraiser “Literacy: From My Story to Our Story” is to help launch Catalyst Coalition, a newly organized nonprofit organization focusing on English proficiency for immigrant children and parents at Davis Media Studio in Gwinnett.
Henry Cho who is a nationally renown comedy who has appeared on NBC's Tonight Show, CBS's The Late, Late Show, and has a comedy central special running on Netflix.
“It's my pleasure to be part of this fundraising to help children and families. I do about 20 charity shows every year and this is amongst the important one that I chose to participate,” said Cho in an exclusive interview with Georgia Asian Times.
Angelica Hale is an American child singer who resides with her family in Georgia. She competed in the 12th season of America's Got Talent, and became the runner up. She also competed on the first season of America's Got Talent: The Champions, where she received the Golden Buzzer from Howie Mandel for her performance of “Fight Song.”
Literacy or reading English, is a proven gateway to greater academic success, job opportunities, and civic participation. Newly arrived immigrants and their children make up a large percentage of those who are illiterate in our country, with Georgia ranking the 6th worst state in adult literacy rates.
“We are honored and excited that two nationally-recognized, Asian American entertainers supported the work of our nonprofit by performing at our first fundraiser,” said Jin Lee, Founder and CEO of the Catalyst Coalition.
“Helping both immigrant children and their parents to read are critical in ensuring that the next generation of immigrants in Georgia are going to succeed and prosper,” said David Kim, Head of Programs for Catalyst Coalition.
“Fifty-two percent of children in Gwinnett County enter kindergarten unprepared, and two-thirds of those kids read below grade level by the time they enter the third grade. Our immigrant communities are mature enough and have established ourselves enough to give back to other immigrants and lift our entire community and state up,” said Kim in his remarks.
Kim Holland, Director of Early Learning & School Readiness at Gwinnett County Public Schools, delivers a scientific based researched data detailing the importance of early childhood literacy especially in underprivileged families.
Research shows that under privileged children grasped about 3,000 words comprehension versus 20,000 words for privileged children by the age of five.
To support or donate to Catalyst Coalition:
– Text to give 404-512-2222
– Venmo@catalyst-coalition
– https://donorbox.org/ccgive
