TITLE
Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund Group in the City Manager Department by $10,550, offset by Sixth Council District One-Time District Priority Funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to provide a donation to Asian Empowerment Association for a Virtual 2021 Cambodian New Year and Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day event; and
Decrease appropriations in the General Fund Group in the Citywide Activities Department by $10,550 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.
DISCUSSION
Councilwoman Suely Saro would like to provide funding to support a virtual video to celebrate the 2021 Cambodian New Year and to recognize the 2021 Annual Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day.
The 2021 Cambodian New Year is three days and it begins on April 14th and ends on April 16th. Tragically, on April 17, 1975, the lives of Cambodians were forever changed when the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and evacuated the entire city as they forced people into labor camps and executed former government officials, doctors, artists, scholars among others. It became known as Year Zero as it was marked by the Khmer Rouge regime. Under that regime, it has been estimated that over 2 million lives were lost due to execution and starvation. Tens of thousands were made widows and orphans, and those who lived through the regime were severely traumatized by their experiences. Several hundred thousand Cambodians fled their country and became refugees, resettling in countries across the world to rebuild their lives, specifically in the City of Long Beach. Long Beach has the largest Cambodian population in the United States.
Asian Empowerment Association is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has focused on empowering through advocacy, leadership development, and strengthening intergenerational relationships, particularly in the Cambodian community.
The virtual 2021 Cambodian New Year and 2021 Cambodian Geno...
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