Dear Members of the Filipino American Society, As the end of my term as president is drawing near, I feel compelled to write

this open letter to the association after having witnessed the events which transpired at the annual Christmas party. I feel intentions were misinterpreted and there were some negative comments said about past and present administrations, so I would like to clarify the administrations vote to dissolve all administrative positions. I have literally grown up in the association. My earliest recollections of the F.A.S. are of an association mostly built on social relationships with the intentions of supporting each other through fellowship, just as it was codified in the F.A.S. Charter (http:// fasfortwayne.wordpress.com/about/). We were just a group of people who liked to get together, have fun, and share our common culture. And it is with these thoughts that my administration voted to dissolve. Our intentions were as follows: Forego the associations present standing with the federal government as a 501(c)(4) entity and to let the community share future expenses, such as food and venue costs. Return the F.A.S. to being a purely social group of people, who help each other without the struggle of finding people who would be willing to fill the administrative roles. We do not intend to disband the organization, only to eliminate the administrative roles until a time when those roles could be filled by people who want to serve for the right reasons, not serve because of a sense of guilt or obligation.

After the announcement of the administrations dissolution, Im happy people volunteered to be candidates for administrative positions and I hope they do well. I will be the chair of the advisory board, as prescribed by the F.A.S. Constitution (http://fasfortwayne.wordpress.com/ constitution/) and I will help with the transition to the new administration, so they will have guidance from me and from members of past administrations. However, I can not help but feel we have only temporarily fixed the problems with leadership in the association. Will there be a struggle again two years from now to find people who are willing to give their time and effort in leading this association to make it successful? I hope this will not be the case. Members of the Filipino American Society, please support the new officers who will be installed after the election. Also, please seriously consider putting your talents to use for the good of the F.A.S. I firmly believe the success of the F.A.S. does not rest solely on the administration, but on its members involvement in furthering the mission of the Filipino American Society. I thank you and I wish you all the best.

Jonathan V. Acierto