MALO hosts several events and functions as a fluid resource center for the Inland Empire’s Tongan and Tongan American communities. These programs include cultural preservation events, university collaborations, 2020 Census efforts, COVID-19 testing sites, and COVID -19 vaccine clinics.
2017
March 2017
May 2018
May 2018
July 2018
2019
Early 2020
April 2020- Currently
January 2021-Currently
2017
MALO est.
Tongan American community members come together to create an organization that serves Tongan and Pacific Islander populations of the Inland Empire.
March 2017
Cultural Annual Event
MALO hosts its first annual event celebrating Tongan culture.
May 2018
Ontario park Performance
MALO gives an opportunity for Tongan American youth to perform and share their culture at a new Ontario park.
May 2018
NAISA Opening
MALO community members opened for the annual Native American Indigenous Studies Association with a speech and māʻuluʻulu performance.
July 2018
First Ontario Independence Parade
MALO organizes community members to proudly represent the Tongan American identity for the first time at the Ontario Independence Day Parade.
2019
Census IE Partnership
MALO partners with Census IE to plan for the 2020 Census outreach efforts.
We boost 2020 Census counting in hard-to-count Tongan and Tongan American populations in the Inland Empire.
April 2020- Currently
Pandemic Assistance
MALO began collecting donations (PPE and Food) to distribute through out the Inland Empire Tongan families to help with day to day needs as we fighting the virus from the global COVID-19 crisis.
January 2021-Currently
Local efforts in combating the COVID 19 impacts on our Pacific Islander communities in the IE. When data showed we were the highest compared to all other racial groups Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. We have been working to connect resources and try to ease some of the stresses faced before the pandemic and now during the pandemic. The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) community, often hidden by a lack of disaggregated data, has been disproportionately devastated by COVID-19. In California, NHPIs have the highest COVID-19 case and death rates of any race and ethnicity. MALO continues to be hard at work to support and serve the community as resources become available. (Pictured is our very own Seini Soakai getting vaccinated at the 1st vaccine site that MALO partnered with through the support of Riverside County Public Health and Reach Out) We will continue to do COVID testing and vaccine outreach as we fight for immunity for all our communities.
