World Series of Poker champion sharing the wealth

By AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | Friday, March 28, 2008 9:31 PM PDT ∞

A charity event this morning in Long Beach is helping former Temecula resident Jerry Yang make good on the prayer he offered before he entered the 2007 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

"Before I went to the world series, I made a pledge to God that I would make a 10 percent donation to charity," Yang said Friday during a phone interview.

Yang, who won a seat in the tournament after winning a satellite event at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, won more than $8 million in the series' main event, the $10,000 buy in "no limit" Texas Hold 'Em tournament.

Since that life-changing moment, Yang has given $275,000 to his alma mater, Loma Linda University, where he earned a master's degree in health psychology. The native of Laos, an ethnic Hmong, also has given $275,000 to the Ronald McDonald House.

This morning, Yang said he will be in Long Beach to participate in a food distribution event organized by Feed The Children, another charity he is supporting.

After 4,000 personal-care boxes are distributed to needy families during the Long Beach event, seven semi-tractor-trailers will deliver food and personal-care items to Southern California missions and food banks. Two of the trucks will be going to Lotshaw Helping Hands Ministry, a Riverside-based charity that provides food and assistance to needy children.

While he lives in the Fresno area now, Yang said he will always consider Riverside County his American "hometown."

"Temecula, Riverside, Lake Elsinore; all of these are my hometowns," he said.

Helping needy children is especially important to Yang, who lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for years during his childhood. While in the camp, his brother and sister died, an experience Yang said was very traumatic.

Now Yang is in a position to help young children who are in dire straits, and he is very excited and very eager to help the "people who need the most."

"I want to show the American people I am thankful for this country for giving my family and I a chance to come to America. If I had not come to America, I would have ended up being a farmer somewhere in Laos," he said.

Contact Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or e-mail aclaverie@californian.com. Comment at www.californian.com.

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