December 2000 was a turning point for those of us who started the core of FITG. Our original intention was for the group to be the main party organizers and social event planners for an ever widening circle of IT friends in New Jersey. In other words, all we really wanted was to have parties! But that month, we got word that one of our own, James “Jimby” McIlvaine, an IT professional from Livingston, New Jersey, had been diagnosed with leukemia and needed our help.
Jimby’s family had been in touch with the Cammy Lee Leukemia Foundation, an organization that helps find bone marrow donors for Asian and other minority group leukemia patients. CLLF was willing to hold donor screening drives in New Jersey but they needed a local non-profit organization to sponsor the event. This helped us realize the value of having a formal organization, and led to our incorporation of FITG in February 2001. In the meantime, “Miracle for Jimby” was launched. Although this was not our own project, FITG held donor screening drives and organized events to help raise funds for Jimby’s medical and other expenses. The response from the Filipino community as a whole, and the IT community in particular, was heartwarming.
