Gung Hay Fat Choy. Happy Chinese New Year to you all. My name is Dr. Kingman Louie and it is my honor to assume the role of President of the Chinese American Council of Sacramento (CACS) for 2012. Thank you Brenda Fong for doing an outstanding job at the helm, in continuing the legacy of CACS these past two years. I would like to also personally thank our members for their continued support of CACS. We have had another banner year in serving our community through our Cares for Kids program, in which we provided our local schools with much needed supplies; and Operation Santa Claus, in which we helped 132 underprivileged families and their children have a happier holiday, with food and gifts.
This is going to be a very special year for CACS, because we are celebrating its 25th year since its inception. CACS was created by the late Frank Fat in 1987. I am pleased to announce that the majority of our board of directors are staying on and will continue to help CACS progress forward another 25 years. My emphasis will be to try to develop some new programs that will engage our membership and their friends in learning about their Chinese culture and heritage. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
I look forward to meeting you at our Annual Membership & Volunteers Appreciation Dinner on Friday, March 30, 2012, at the Rice Bowl Restaurant at 6:30 pm. We will be honoring our members and volunteers who have helped us this past year with Operation Santa Claus in 2011.
Respectfully,
Dr. Kingman Louie, 2012 CACS President
(Left) Dr. Henry Wang, Angela Snoda and Asemblymember Roger Dickinson presenting a Resolution to the Hall of Fame Honoree. (Right) Brenda Fong pressenting the Frank Fat Founders Award to Alice Wong.
By Brenda Fong, Past President
On October 21, 2011, CACS recognized two prominent attorneys for the enduring differences they made to the API community. Approximately 200 guests attended a wonderful Chinese dinner at the Rice Bowl Restaurant and honored Ms. Alice Wong, Esq. and the late Ms. Karen Tomine, Esq. Alice was awarded the Frank Fat Founder’s Award and Karen was inducted posthumously as a Hall of Fame Honoree. We were delighted that their families, friends and business associates were there to acknowledge these two fine community leaders and role models.
Proceeds from this dinner benefitted our “Cares for Kids” summer program, and also our “Operation Santa Claus” winter program.
Tom Chinn served as CACS advisor for over 15 years along with the late Frank Fat, founder of CACS. On behalf of the CACS Board of Directors, we extend our condolences to the Chinn family. Chinn, a veteran Sacramento political figure and Asian community leader who served on the City Council from 1983 to 1992, was a longtime friend of the late Frank Fat. Together they formed CACS back in 1987 to encourage active participation of Chinese Americans in civic, business, educational and governmental affairs in the greater Sacramento area. CACS is a nonprofit organization established to serve the needs of Sacramento’s Chinese American community, and is committed to building a stronger Chinese American presence through leadership in advocacy, civic and cultural activities. Let’s continue the legacy of these two fine men.
Click image to see larger version
By Jeanie Lee, Chair
The Chinese American Council of Sacramento once again enjoyed a successful Operation Santa Claus in 2011. We sponsored 132 families with over 400 children. Each family was given a $50 grocery gift certificate and gifts for the kids. The success of the program is due largely to the many volunteer Santa’s Helpers and the dedicated board members who swamped the local shopping outlets hunting for bargains to stretch the dollars. We would also like to thank the many supporters who donated to this cause. Their contributions helped lessen the burden on the organization and gave us a bigger budget to work with.
The following volunteers deserve our special appreciation for their dedication to the project, many of whom participated for many years: Bill and Joyce Tom, Kim and Pete Rabbon, Susan Kwong-Pisano, Cindy Nakata, DeAnne Ng, Cynthia Kubo, Helen and Mike Fong, Janet and Doug Louie, Stephanie Louie, Jennifer Louie, Christopher Louie, Pearl Chang and John Cho, June Fong, Christine Fong, Ashlee Fong, Brian Fong, Mira Tonis, Joan Hirose, Frank Kwong, Buffie Radovich and Marlene Oheler of the Klump’s Funeral Home who had also loaned their van for the transportation of the mountain of gifts from President Brenda Fong’s home to the Will C. Woods Middle School for distribution on December 16, 2011.
By Dr. David Young, Chair
This year, working in partnership with the Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center (SCCSC), CACS donated $2,000 of school supplies and sporting equipment to two afterschool programs. On Sept. 22, 2011, two fully-loaded cars were driven to Martin Luther King and Oak Ridge Elementary Schools. Upon our arrival, we were met by Henry Kloczkowski, Executive Director of SCCSC, Anne Luong, and the school’s staff members. Over a dozen happy students from their afterschool programs helped unload the many boxes of school supplies and sports equipment. The kids were more than happy to pose for photos and expressed their thanks to CACS.
It was a fun afternoon and very rewarding to see how our funds helped these schools and their students. Thanks to fellow Board members and volunteers, Karun Yee, Brenda, Brian and Daniel Fong for taking their time to assist in the shopping and delivery of the school supplies. CACS wants to express our thanks to our members and friends of CACS for supporting the “Cares for Kids” summer program.