SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CITY, CALIFORNIA, USA – Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Frank R. Ferrer joined the Fil-Am Lions Club of San Francisco, the first Lions Club of Filipino ancestry in the United States, in their milestone 50th anniversary banquet and ball at the Elks Lodge in South San Francisco on 19 November 2021.
In his remarks during the celebration, Consul General Ferrer acknowledged the San Francisco Fil-Am Lions Club for “inspiring and uplifting the community through charity missions and community service.”
“Organizations such as yours allow members of the community to develop deeper relations with one another, fostering inclusivity, solidarity and unity among Filipinos and Filipino Americans… I encourage you to continue to imbibe the inherent Filipino spirit of bayanihan that so pervades our community’s actions in the United States,” Consul General Ferrer said.
Consul General Ferrer noted that the San Francisco Fil-Am Lions Club’s golden anniversary coincided with the 75th year of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the U.S.
“The friendship between our two countries has been strengthened by resilient people-to-people ties, especially through the efforts of organizations such as the San Francisco Fil-Am Lions Club,” Consul General Ferrer said.
The Philippine Consul General also called on the attendees to actively participate in next year’s Philippine national elections. “As members of the Filipino community in the Bay Area, I urge all of you to perform your sacred duty of electing our next leaders, and to invite your families, neighbors, co-workers and friends to do the same,” Consul General Ferrer said.
The San Francisco Fil-Am Lions Club is a non-partisan service organization under the U.S.-based Lions Club International. The activities and projects of the club in recent years include medical missions, book donation drives, and COVID-19 vaccination clinics. Its members recently provided free flu shots for Filipino community members during the “Health Day Sa Konsulado” last October 2021. END
