MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY

RESOURCE CENTER

MCRC noticias

Coming Events

Oct. 2&3— Elders Program Pumpkin Carving

Oct. 9—Dental Clinic

Oct. 14—Neighborhood Watch

Meeting

Oct. 14—18—Dashra/Dashain Festival

Oct. 18—Food Bank

Oct. 29—Nepali Socialization Hour

Oct. 31—MCRC Daycare Halloween Celebration

Hispanic Heritage Days contin-

ue through October 15

o

Looking for a great plate of Chicken Pad Thai in Erie? How

about some delicious Thai iced tea? Thanks to enterprising immigrant and MCRC ESL student, Suputchanok “Pinky” Barczynski, Erie now has an authentic Thai restaurant centrally located on Perry Square. "We really like Erie," said Pinky, who opened Khao Thai restaurant in December 2009. “It’s a good place for busi-ness. We find people like Thai food here.” Pinky opened the restaurant after learning the business in the Georgetown district of Washington, DC. She saw that Erie lacked Thai cuisine and invested herself into the city. “I moved here because my sister lives here, and Erie did not have a Thai restaurant," she said. “We wanted everyone to try Thai food.” As business progressed, Pinky found English to be chal-lenging when working with customers, suppliers, and oth-er members of the business community. To address the issue, she turned to MCRC and its business-friendly schedule. "I am happy to go to MCRC,” she says. “It is a very good place. I have a nice teacher (Fran Davis) and friends. I can go to class be-fore work.” Specific to the impact on her business, Pinky noted, “Now I can do many business activities by myself, without help, including reading business letters.” Her progress and contributions at MCRC are well known among the education staff, which serves among its clients several busi-nesspeople, aspiring college students, and other talented people from many walks of life. "Many attributes can be listed when speaking of Pinky -- quick-on-the-uptake, respectful, ob-servant, with a ‘dry’ sense of humor -- but number one would have to be GENEROUS!" said ESL instructor Davis. "She is an extremely generous person, always keeping an eye and ear out for someone’s need or desire. If she has the means to fulfill a need, she will quickly and quietly do it! She doesn’t draw attention to herself in these instances; her generosity seems to have no motive beyond goodwill." Barczynski is not alone among immigrants and refugees starting businesses in Erie. While it is difficult to place an exact number on the businesses currently owned and operated by immi-grants, their role in shaping the city’s commerce is well documented in the region’s history. MCRC estimates that as many as 40 businesses in the Erie area are operated by refugees alone.

Multicultural Community

Resource Center of Erie

Richard Perhacs, Esq., Board President

Joanna Cherpak, Acting Executive Director

MCRC Noticias Editorial Team:

Joanna Cherpak, Exec. Director (Acting)

Trish Lawrence, Section Mgr.- CEC

Cathie Whitmire, Section Mgr. - Educ.

Nathan Koble, Staff Contributor

Al Richards, Production Editor

554 East 10th St., Erie, PA 16503

Ph: 814.455.0212 FAX: 814.453.2363

Email: MCRC@multiculturalcrc..org

MCRC THE RIGHT INGREDIENT

FOR THAI RESTAURATEUR

Volume 3, Issue 9

September 2013

Cont’d p. 4

“Pinky” Barczynski, owner of Khao Thai Restaurant

2nd Anniversary Edition

P A G E 2 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 9

Sponsors and Golfers Team Up for a

Successful 2nd Annual Tournament

A beautiful sunny and warm day was the back drop for the

2nd

Annual MCRC Hitting The Cultural Links Golf Tournament

which was held at Lake Shore Country Club on Thursday, Sep-

tember 5, 2013. Like last year, we had golfers come from

states such as: Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, New York and

other parts of Pennsylvania. Many of the golfers were associ-

ates of our two board members from Erie Insurance, Gary Sulli-

van and Pamela Scott. The Event Sponsor for the tournament

was Mosaico Employment Services who was able to bring cli-

ent guests to enjoy a relaxing game of golf followed by a deli-

cious steak or vegetarian dinner, door prizes and a raffle prize

drawing. For the second year in a row, the UPMC team was

the tournament champion.

We would like to thank all of the wonderfully generous spon-

sors of our Tournament:

Platinum Major Sponsor: Curtin & Heefner, LLP

Gold Sponsors: Brush County Claim. Richard Myers, Symbility

and Ruup Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham & Coppola, LLC

Bronze Sponsors: Enservio, Inc., Highmark, Insurer’s World,

United Storm Adjusters, UPMC and DiBella Geer McAllister &

Best

Tee Sponsors: Brown & James Law Firm, DiBella Geer McAllis-

ter & Best, Eagle View Technologies, Erie Bank, Gemcor Inc.,

Housing Headquarters Inc., Loesel-Schaaf Insurance Agency,

Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, Margolis Edelstein, Nick-

las Insurance Agency, Northwest Savings Bank, RTF Consult-

ing, Robb Leonard Mulvhill LLP, Safe Harbor Behavioral Health,

Temporary Accommodations Inc. and VIP Insurance Housing

Options Inc.

We would also like to thank those companies and individuals

who donated door prizes to the tournament: JR’s Last Laugh

Comedy Club, TGIFridays, Max & Erma’s, Fox & Hound, U Pick

6 Taphouse, Molly Branigans, The Brewerie, Heritage Wine

Cellars, Joel Tuzynski, Paul Jericho, Presque Isle Downs & Casi-

no, Earl Pifer, Erie Sports Store, Golf Etc., Dick’s Sporting

Goods, Marquette Savings Bank, Iadeluca Chiropractic Center,

Saint Vincent Health Center, Tim Horton’s, Eric Consiglio, Wen-

dy Rogers, Nancy O’Leary, Anna Tischenko, Heidi Hilton, A

Stitch in Time and Eat ‘N Park.

The putter for the putting contest was donated by Bob & Carol

Robson and MCRC Acting Executive Director Joanna Cherpak

in honor of Jack Robson, their late father who was an avid

golfer and golf club craftsman.

We offer a very special thanks to Richard Myers of Brush Coun-

ty Claims who donated his 50/50 raffle ticket winnings back to

MCRC. Very kind of you Richard!

It was an exhilarating day for the golfers and MCRC staff. We

plan to do it again next year on Thursday, September 4, 2014.

Mark your calendars and see you then!

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 9

Nineteen Freshmen at Mercyhurst University came to MCRC on Tues-

day, Sept. 3 wearing yellow T-shirts, smiles, and a spirited attitude

that said, “We’re ready to work!” And work, they did.

After a brief orientation about MCRC services for immigrant and His-

panic residents in the Erie community, the ‘Hurst volunteers grabbed

vacuum cleaners, scrub buckets, sponges, rags, and wood cleaners

and within a short time gave our meeting rooms and offices a fresh

clean look and smell.

Strangers even to each other the day before, these majors in science,

business, dance, restaurant management, fashion merchandising,

interior design, intelligence studies, and several other professional

studies performed wonderfully as a community service team to make

an important contribution to our organization. To our staff, their

work has been a generous gift; to our clients, especially those who

were in the buildings, their service has been a meaningful statement

about American spirit and caring. We gratefully salute the Mer-

cyhurst volunteers.

Merchurst University Students Give Time and Service to MCRC

554 East 10th Street Erie, PA 16503

Phone: 814-455-0212 Fax: 814-453-2363 Web: www.multiculturalcrc.org

MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER

Your Donation

is Appreciated

To make a financial gift to

MCRC, send it to Joanna

Cherpak, Acting Executive Di-

rector, 554 East 10th St., Erie,

PA 16503 or donate online at

www.multiculturalcrc.org.

MCRC volunteer opportunities exist

for one-time or continuing activities.

Please visit the

Volunteer tab at our Website at

www.multiculturalcrc.org

or look for us on the Erie Chamber of

Commerce site at

www.eriepaconnect.com

To inquire, send an email to

MCRC@multiculturalcrc.org. Be sure

to include your name and phone number

in your message.

Proudly serving the needs of the Hispanic and refugee communities since 1975.

Restaurant , from p.1 “We at MCRC strive to assist our ESL clients to graduate to self-sufficiency and independence as they work to become citizens of the United States,” said acting MCRC executive director Joanna Cherpak. “When one of our graduates like Pinky becomes a successful entrepreneur in a local business, we could not be prouder and support their endeavors which contribute so much to Erie’s economy.” As the weather cools and activities in Erie shift to the indoors, consider making a trip to Khao Thai among your downtown activities. If you have never tried Thai food, the staff recommends for an appetizer the Thai Sampler, a combination of chick-en satay, crispy spring rolls, steamed dumplings, fried calamari, and fried tofu. For an entrée, staff encourage you to try the Thai fried rice, drunken noodles (a stir-fried dish that does not include alcohol), or Pad Thai, the national dish of Thai-land. Homemade coconut ice cream, coffee, iced tea, or lemonade (all Thai style) are among the favorites for after the meal. “It’s always homemade,” say Pinky.

Greetings and Salutations!

It is so very hard to fathom that this September 2013 edition of MCRC Noticias

marks the 2nd

Anniversary of our humble e-newsletter. In May 2011, it was a

concept we were trying to develop which obviously came to fruition and is

now a mainstay part of MCRC’s Marketing Mix. We knew that we wanted the

world to know what went on in and around the walls of the Multicultural Com-

munity Resource Center. What we learned from our clients was too profound

not to share with the community. Some of the articles we have published over

the last couple of years have ranged from incredibly uplifting to ones that

tugged at your heart strings. The best part is that it leaves you wanting to

know more about the person in the story. I have to admit there are a couple

that I have deemed my favorites only because they touched my heart and

made me realize how very blessed I am – and even more blessed to work for

an agency that does such incredible work to help refugees and immigrants.

We hope you are enjoying our 2nd

anniversary edition of MCRC Noticias. We

thank you for taking the time to read our publication over the last two years.

We promise to bring you even more outstanding stories and information in the

months and years to come from our corner of the world on 10th

& Ash Streets .

Genuinely yours,

Joanna R. Cherpak Acting Executive Director

Corner of

10th & Ash