Chicago, IL - For its second year, the Filipino American Community Health Initiative of Chicago (FACHIC) celebrated the spirit of the holidays with its Christmas card decorating event on November 20, 2011 at Uncle Mike’s Place in Chicago. This workshop-type afternoon was part of the annual FACHIC Parol Program. Twenty volunteers came together to donate time and their creative talents to produce 120 colorful Christmas cards. Uncle Mike’s Place, located at 1700 West Grand Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, kindly donated workspace for crafting.

Cards were mailed to Chicagoland Filipino American seniors with winter safety information which provided tips on staying warm and surviving winter storms. Volunteer card decorators spanned from children to adults, all satisfied with their product and happy to pay respect to seniors in their community, even in a small way.

The Parol Program was established in 2009 with support from the Filipino American Network (FAN). The goal of the Parol Program is not only to offer holiday cheer, but also to assure Filipino American seniors that community health resources were available in their time of need.

The Filipino American Community Health Initiative of Chicago (FACHIC) is a collaborative of community, health professional, and academic leaders united to address Filipino health issues in the Chicago area. The mission of FACHIC is to increase awareness of Filipino health disparities and to implement health interventions and educational programming to improve the health status of the Filipino community. FACHIC is a 501(c)(3) Illinois nonprofit organization. All programs and services are free and available to all.For more information, visit http://www.fachic.org.