The founding of the Forest Hills Asian Association establishes a civic group
The founding of the Forest Hills Asian Association establishes a civic group for a community that makes up about 25 percent of the Queens neighborhood. As he tells the Queens Chronicle, co-founder Edwin Wong didn’t know that the number was so high. That made the need for such a group all the more crucial.
“I did notice there had been a lot more Asians moving in, but I didn’t realize it was that many,” said Wong, a Forest Hills resident since 2006. “I’ve always been involved and supported causes in the Asian American community, so I figured to gather an official group to really engage the community.”
The FHAA has started reaching out to other Asian and non-Asian community groups and businesses like the community board and the chamber of commerce.
“We’re trying to build relationships,” he said. “We’re really an organization trying to do multiple things, not just focusing on business or cultural stuff. We figure we can reach out to more people that way.”
Even though it’s called the “Asian Association,” Wong said that it’s open to people and businesses in the area of all backgrounds.
“We want to help not just the Asian businesses, but the non-Asian businesses as well,” he said. “We really want to engage everyone.”
Go to the Queens Chronicle to read what Wong has in mind to generate interest for the FHAA.