Apl.de.ap gets humanitarian award at New York City gala

The Grammy-winning hip-hop and R&B group The Black Eyed Peas may be on hiatus for quite some time now as Fergie, will.i.am, Taboo and Allan Lindo Pineda/apl.de.ap are still preoccupied with their private commitments and are still compiling songs for their much-anticipated comeback album.

During their break from recordings and concerts, Allan, the Peas’ philanthropic Pinoy member, managed to find more time to beef up his foundation’s mission to help empower the youth in the Philippines and other parts of Asia through building of classrooms and promoting education through technology and music.

He also partnered with other organizations to raise money for the victims of Yolanda, with Allan himself performing on stage and doing personal appearances in various charity events. Allan and his foundation’s efforts don’t go unnoticed as they both reap accolades even abroad.

Just recently, reported Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre, the glamorous world of Hollywood and fashion honored him with the Spirit Award at the 2014 Happy Hearts Fund gala held at the famed Cipiriani 42nd Street in New York City. will.i.am was also a recipient of the same award.

“No less than Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts and Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova shared the honor of presenting the award to the Angeles City, Pampanga-born singer,” said Edmund. “Allan later performed I Gotta Feeling and Where Is The Love solo after accepting the citation.”

The star-studded event — that also recognized former Pres. Bill Clinton with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Haiti President Michel Martelly with the Leadership in Education Award — celebrated the achievements Happy Hearts Fund has made 10 years after the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami. 

“Among those who cheered for Allan were his fellow singers Sheryl Crow and John Legend,” added Edmund.

Happy Hearts was founded by Petra Nemcova, a survivor of the deadly December 2004 tidal wave in Thailand, where her fiance Simon Atlee was swept away and died along with more than 230,000 people. 

The Fund, designed to help rebuild schools for children after natural disasters, is now active in seven countries and has so far rebuilt 85 schools. It hopes to build its 100th classroom by the end of this year.

Previously honored in the US by the prestigious This Time Foundation for his humanitarian initiatives, Allan founded the apl.de.ap Foundation in 2008 to help various needy communities and underprivileged children in the Philippines and across Asia. In 2011, his foundation formed a partnership with the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF) to create the “We Can Be Anything” advocacy campaign to help promote education by building classrooms.

His foundation also had teamed up with Red Ribbon and the Franklin Baker Company for a project called the “Red Ribbon Macaroons for a Cause,” whose goal is to raise money to build public school facilities, starting with one in Zamboanga that will benefit over 600 students.

Last June 1, Allan was one of the guests of honor and performers at the Philippine Independence Day celebration in New York City, where he talked about his charity work.

Zoila Mendoza, a New York-based travel specialist and herself a philanthropist, was in awe of Allan’s “sincerity” and “passion” in putting his star-power to good use.

Said Edmund, “During their hour-long chat in a limo that brought Allan from the JFK Airport to his Manhattan hotel, Zoila said Allan was talking ‘non-stop’ about his foundation and how it changes the lives of many youngsters.”

“He never got tired talking about his humanitarian projects so long as he knew that there were people willing to listen,” Zoila texted Funfare. “We kept asking him questions and he answered us with so much passion and sincerity. Nakakatuwa siya. Alam mo ‘yon, ‘yung hindi nambobola at nanggagaling talaga sa kaibuturan ng puso kahit pagod siya from flying.

“And he’s so down to earth. He’s not like those other people who rose to fame, power and fortune but forgot to look back at the life of poverty they grew up in and do something for the people they grew up with. Allan is the real deal, and all the accolades he’s been getting are richly deserved.”

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