The Rotary Club of San Francisco, SF-Marin Food Bank and Catholic Charities partnered together to distribute personal safety alarms to 859 AAPI Seniors in the OMI (Oceanview, Merced Heights, Ingleside) neighborhood of San Francisco, California on September 4, 2021. Complimentary safety alarms were given to the SF-Marin Food Bank pantry recipients with a high percentage of them being Asian Seniors. Each recipient was given instructions on how to operate the alarm along with a handout of safety tips. When the alarm is activated, a 130-decibel siren will sound alerting the public someone is in distress and needs help.
The Rotary Club of San Francisco was founded in 1908 and is one of the oldest humanitarian organizations in the world.
“When I heard about the crimes being committed against Asians, I knew I had to do something to help. I am an Asian American woman and found myself being fearful of being on the streets of San Francisco and subjected to being targeted. I stopped carrying a purse or wearing jewelry,” said Mary Liu, Rotary Club of San Francisco President, and 1st Asian American President since the club’s founding in 1908.
Mary Liu took action to secure a grant from the Rotary Club of San Francisco and the San Francisco Rotary Foundation to purchase 2,000 personal safety alarms as part of the Stop Asian Hate movement. The AAPI community came under attack by those looking to exploit the vulnerable in a series of robberies, attacks, and other hate crimes. We hope carrying this personal safety alarm will provide some peace of mind to the Asian Seniors when they are out and about in San Francisco.
Since August 2021, Mary and her club members have distributed the alarms to low-income Asian Seniors in Chinatown, Japantown, Richmond, Sunset, and Visitation Valley neighborhoods.
San Francisco District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani joined Mary and the members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco last week to distribute 150 alarms to AAPI seniors from the Mercy Housing development in Visitation Valley.
“I am so scared to go out by myself because of all the crime committed against us,” shared an Asian Senior during the Chinatown alarm distribution.
The Rotary Club of San Francisco is an organization of local business, professional, and civic leaders who do great things locally and around the world. We offer a unique opportunity to give and grow through strong relationships that we build by providing humanitarian service, encouraging high ethical standards in all vocations, and helping to build goodwill and peace in the world.
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