CHICAGO — The faces gathered for a group photograph at the Rizal Center tell a story larger than a single Volunteer Appreciation Day. Standing and sitting shoulder to shoulder, volunteers of different ages and backgrounds represent the latest chapter in more than seven decades of community service, sacrifice, and stewardship at the Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago (FACGC).
The celebration honored the people whose often-unseen work keeps the Rizal Center active—from welcoming visitors and serving meals to caring for elders, teaching children, cleaning shared spaces, organizing programs, and even reinstalling pieces of the Center’s parquet floor one tile at a time.
But the gathering also placed their service within a longer historical tradition.
Roots of Bayanihan
FACGC traces its roots to pioneers who incorporated the organization in 1953, creating an institution to bring together and serve Filipinos in Greater Chicago. In 1974, another generation of community leaders purchased the Rizal Center, establishing a permanent home for the community.
In the 1990s, after years of collective sacrifice and financial support, the community paid off the building’s mortgage and celebrated by burning it—a milestone that helped secure the Center for future generations.
That tradition of community stewardship faced another defining moment on August 19, 2022, when community members came together to reclaim FACGC and the Rizal Center from what the current leadership described as rogue leadership and to restore the organization and the building to the community they were established to serve.
The message to volunteers at the appreciation gathering was simple. Each generation has inherited FACGC from those who came before, and each has a responsibility to leave it stronger for those who will follow.
The story of ABAKADA
That responsibility is reflected in the first four letters of the Filipino alphabet. They are values highlighted during the celebration: aksyon, taking initiative to serve the community; bayanihan, the spirit of working together for a common purpose; kapwa, recognition of our shared humanity; and kapitbahayan and damayan, the practice of caring for one another as neighbors.
The group photograph captures those values in a particularly human way. There are elders and young adults, longtime community members and newer volunteers, people standing, sitting, laughing, and embracing. Their matching volunteer shirts provide the common thread: different people contributing to one community.
Organizers acknowledged that the photograph may not include everyone who helped FACGC and the Rizal Center. Although the intention was to invite and recognize all volunteers, some may have been unintentionally missed. Community members are being asked to provide the names of volunteers who were not invited or unable to attend so they can be recognized in the future.
“No act of service should go unnoticed simply because a name was unintentionally missed,” was the message shared with the community.
For FACGC, Volunteer Appreciation Day was therefore as much about the future as the present. The pioneers of 1953 did their part. Those who purchased the Rizal Center in 1974 did theirs. The generation that paid off its mortgage did theirs. And those who defended the organization and Center in 2026 added another chapter.
FACGC also treats the volunteers and guests with the premier showing of the Tour of Rizal Center.
Now, the responsibility passes to the people in the photograph—and to the many others whose service extends beyond its frame.
They are not simply volunteering at the Rizal Center. They are becoming part of its history.
Photo caption: Generations of service come together at the Rizal Center as FACGC recognizes its volunteers and supporters. The gathering celebrates the bayanihan, kapwa, and kapitbahayan that have sustained the organization from its incorporation in 1953 to the community stewardship of today. Photo: FACGC.
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