Forty-eight years ago, on February 10, 1969, 15 Filipino immigrants — all women, mostly in the health care field, signed an application for incorporating the first Filipino Canadian association in the country: the Victoria Filipino Canadian Association.

It's December again and most of us begin the shopping trek for Christmas presents for family and friends. But others have been working on presents all year long for people they don't even know - couples in crisis, children who can't afford to go to school, families with no decent housing or medical care. For these 'others', Christmas calls, and they respond, every day.

It's not often that a non-profit society finds itself in this dilemna: owning a number of real estate assets, in Vancouver BC no less, in the tight real estate market of the 2000's, with an opportunity to turn these underutilized and aging properties into more productive assets, but whose stewards - the board of directors - may be risk averse.

The Canadian Filipino Net website is happy to announce its collaboration with Dahong Pilipino under its Community category.