Paying It Forward as Children of Immigrants
Sonia and Neil are both children of immigrants – each family is from India – and the couple credits their parents for instilling in them the fundamental values to achieve the American Dream: hard work, education, and civic engagement. Sonia’s father served in the Indian Army for over 15 years before emigrating, initially to Canada, where Sonia was born. The family soon settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where Sonia and her two siblings were raised and enjoyed a quintessential middle-class life. Sonia reminisces that her father, who worked for 40 years at the Ford Motor Co., never said no to overtime, valued all things American, and managed to send three kids to parochial school and then off to college without debt, with help from her mother, who worked as a nurse.
Neil likewise benefited from his parents’ determination to use their skills in their new country. Neil’s mother was the first female in her medical school in India and became an OB/GYN there. After the family emigrated to Dayton, Ohio, she wanted to start a family, so picked the field of pathology knowing that there was little night call. After her children were in high school, she opened her own family medicine clinic and served her neighborhood community for 20 years.
Sonia has spent time thinking about her parents and the ways in which their assimilation, hard work, and an ethos that embraced both community and nation helped shape who she is as an adult. “I always understood how hard they worked, but maybe didn’t appreciate it until I had my own kids. I recognize now that my path, my successes, and my community work were paved by their efforts: It’s a strong sense of ‘pay it forward.’ I think about how we as children of immigrant parents feel, in our every waking breath, a debt of gratitude for their sacrifice. They give us a better life, and we spend the rest of our lives trying to realize that.”
Grantmaking Impact
Through this fund, PCF has been able to
- Provide sustained funding
- Offer consistent financial support for our local grantmaking programs throughout Greater Pasadena.
- Enhance community programs
- Empower organizations to expand their services and reach more individuals in need.
- Support flexibility
- Allows PCF to direct resources when and where they are needed most, respond quickly to emerging needs, and fill funding gaps that restricted gifts can’t cover.
Contact Us
For more information about PCF giving opportunities, please contact
Pasadena Community Foundation
301 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 810
Pasadena, CA., 91101
626.796.2097
pcfstaff@pasadenacf.org
