Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 14 | Page 23

July 16 - 31, 2018
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
ARTS AND CULTURE
A Licensed Immigration
Professional Offers Pro-Bono
Services to the Philippine
Government
In a show of good faith and
being a good Samaritan, Jay Razon, a
regulated immigration consultant with
offices in Canada and Philippines, on
July 5, 2018, during a courtesy call
with the Hon. Consul General Ma.
Andrelita S. Austria, offers his services
for free to the Philippine Consulate
office.
“I am very much aware of the
fact that the Consulate office often
receives request for assistance, most
of the time in an urgent fashion,
from our fellow kababayans
who
are facing extreme immigration
situation like removal order, etc.
And acknowledging that most of
PAY YOUR FINES
WITH FOOD AT
FRASER VALLEY
REGIONAL LIBRARY
23
these people won’t be able to afford
the thousands of dollars needed to
defend these types of cases, I told
the new and very attentive Consul
General that I am willing to take these
cases without compensation.
Razon also added in ending “I
am truly a very busy person nowadays
but I want to do this in service to
those who are in danger of being
deported back to the Philippines. At
a minimum they will have a chance
to defend themselves and avoid the
humiliation of being returned to their
country without the benefit of a due
process.”
Jay Razon, RCIC with Consul General Austria in the Congen’s
office in Vancouver.
Reduce your fines and help feed
those in need.
Abbotsford, BC – Fraser Valley
Regional Library’s (FVRL) extremely
popular Food for Fines campaign is
back! Usually held during the winter
months, this is the first time FVRL has
held Food for Fines during the summer.
Take advantage of this opportunity to
reduce your library fines and help feed
your community.
Until July 29, you can “pay” your
fines with food. It’s simple – bring in
commercially packaged, unexpired,
non-perishable food items to any FVRL
location and have your fines reduced.
One food item equals $2 in fines/fees,
and up to $30 of fines/fees owed per
library account can be cleared during
the campaign. All items collected will be
donated to the local area food bank.
“At this time of year many of our
community food banks experience
empty shelves and are in desperate need
of donations,” says Heather Scoular,
FVRL’s Director of Customer Experience.
“Food for Fines is a great opportunity
for our customers to reduce or eliminate
their library fines while supporting their
local community food banks during a
critical time. Last winter’s Food for Fines
campaign was our most successful
to date, during which our customers
generously donated 17,330 food items,
and in turn we cleared approximately
$34,660 worth of fines.”
Local pantries are especially in
need of rice; flour; powdered baby
formula; peanut butter and jams; pasta
and sauces; canned fruit and vegetables;
canned and dry soups; canned fish/
meat; and cereal.
For more information, please
visit www.fvrl.ca or your favourite FVRL
location. Connect with FVRL online
24/7 through Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram.
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM