Dr. Kingman LouieSpring has just arrived and we have much to be thankful for. We had a fantastic turn out for our Membership / Volunteer Appreciation dinner. We had almost 100 in attendance and it was great to see so many familiar faces and meet many new members. One of my main objectives, at the helm of CACS, is to try to incorporate programs our membership has an interest in. Brenda Fong, our membership chairperson, received many great ideas from our members in attendance, by way of the survey forms that were passed out at our dinner, and we will discuss their feasibility and try to incorporate many of your ideas at our very next upcoming CACS board meeting. Some things requested by our membership included educational, cultural or cooking classes and possibly some .eld trips, like the trip we did to the Angel Island Immigration Station a few years ago.
I am proud to share with you that your CACS organization showed its support to our Sacramento Asian community by supporting the Asian Resources Lunar New Year fundraiser last month. We are also supporting APSEA (Asian Paci. c State Employees Association) by sponsoring a $1000 scholarship to a deserving college-bound high school student from the Sacramento community. I am happy and proud to share with you that our very own Linda Ng, CACS’s treasurer, is being honored with the Community Service Award at the APSEA Scholarship Dinner on April 24.
Congratulations Franc Martinez for receiving the CACS Member of the Year award for 2011-2012. Franc has been helping CACS with its many programs continuously since 1998 and the larger Sacramento Asian community for the past 20 years. I wish I could give each of our CACS board members an award because they work tirelessly to make CACS continue to be a great and successful organization that we can all be proud of. As always, if you have any suggestions or thoughts, please feel free to contact me at home (916) 392-8524 or [email protected].
Dr. Kingman LouieGung 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.
For a fun tidbit, people who were born in the years 1913, 1925,
1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, and 2009 are Oxens according
to the Chinese Zodiac.
Do you know that our new President Barack Obama was born in the
Year of the Ox? Other famous Ox people are Johann Sebastian
Bach, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charlie Chaplin, George Clooney, Walt
Disney, Anton Dvorak, Clark Gable, George Frideric Handel, Oscar
De Le Hoya, Diana-Princess of Wales, and Van Gogh.
People born in the Year of the Ox are “supremely self-assured, and
as a result are noted for inspiring confidence in others. Generally
patient and thoughtful, they measure their words, and will speak clearly and concisely
often when it matters most.” Does this sound familiar in our new President?
On behalf of the Chinese American Council of Sacramento (CACS) Board of Directors,
we send our best wish to you and your family for a happy New Year and a prosperous
and healthy Year of the Ox filled with fortune and good luck!
With the support of our sponsors, our members and
our community, CACS enjoyed another successful
year in 2008. Most notable is the completion of our first
ever recorded history and lives of the Chinese
immigrants in Sacramento during the Gold Rush days
in our book—Canton Footprint authored by Philip
Choy. It debuted in early 2008, and has been enjoying
a phenomenal success in its sales. Please see article
in this newsletter for more detail.
CACS continued to participate in a number of
community events: the Chinese New Year Celebration
at the California State University, Sacramento, in early
2008; the Pacific Rim Street Festival in May; the Yee
Fow Cultural Fair in early fall, the Locke Management
pen House Ceremony, and the Gold Rush Days in
ld Sacramento in the fall. We showcased our culture
and shared stories with those who attended the festivities,
continuing the mission and goals established by our
Founder, the late Mr. Frank Fat.
Once again, two schools from a low-income district were
selected to receive school supplies and sporting equipment
this last summer. CACS is also proud to have sponsored
135 families (more than double in years past) during the
2008 holidays by providing them with a holiday meal
certificate and gifts for the children. Please read details of
these two programs featured in this newsletter.
The success of our programs was due largely to our
community support, the help of many, many volunteers and
our hard working board members. I would like to publicly
acknowledged them for their continue support and service.
We look forward to another rewarding year in 2009!
Happy New Year and may you all have a wonderful and prosperous 2007!
CACS has accomplished many things this last year. We’ve donated $1,500 to the Locke Foundation for the restoration and preservation of the Town of Locke. Raised over $15,000 for our very own Cares for Kids Project and Operations Santa Claus, and donated a $1,000 Scholarship to the Asian Pacific Islanders State Employee’s Foundation Scholarship Program. We actively support and have made donations to CAPITAL and their Prism Project, My Sister’s House, Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center, Sacramento Chinese Cultural Foundation, Organization of Chinese Americans – Greater Sacramento Chapter.
In addition, our Annual Author/Lecture Dinner featuring Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Gold Mountain, received an overwhelming response. Our 3rd Annual Gold Mountain Celebration honoring Dr. Herbert Yee as the recipient of 2006 Frank Fat’s Founder Award drew over 325 guests. Dr. Douglas and Karun Yee have been working with Dr. Phillip Choy over the past three years on CACS’s first historical book featuring the lives of people in the Sacramento and Delta area, to be released the later part of 2007 or 2008.
Next year, CACS plans to celebrate our 20th Anniversary by honoring all our past presidents who have carried out Frank Fat’s mission and commitment to building a stronger Chinese American presence through leadership in advocacy, civic and cultural activities.
Lastly, I would like to thank all my board of directors for doing such a wonderful job throughout the year. Also, we are thankful to the many volunteers whose time, energy and helping hands were invaluable. Without their support, commitment and enthusiasm, I could not have done it without them. Thank you.
We really want to hear from our members, please feel free to email me at [email protected] and let us know what we can do to encourage more active participation in our organization.
Joyce EngThe last two months have been busy for our board of directors with CACS Annual Membership Dinner held on March 23rd at King’s Restaurant in West Sacramento. Eighty (80) of our members enjoyed a delicious meal and watched a wonderful slide presentation highlighting CACS events and support of the API community events over the last two years. I want to personally thank Charlie Moy, our historian and newsletter chair for putting together the slide show for all our members. In addition, we had an overwhelming response to our Annual Dinner Author Lecture on April 6th featuring Lisa See, author of “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” and “On Gold Mountain”. Over 280 people attended this event and I want to especially thank our Historical Chairs, Dr. Douglas Yee and his wife Karun Yee for making this such a successful event.
Our Special Project Chairs, Dr. Wesley Yee and Rick Wong are planning a special trip sometime in the later part of June or early July for our members – stay tune for more to come!
Other Events that CACS will be sponsoring are the Pacific Rim Street Fest on Sunday, May 21st – look for our booth! On Saturday, June 3rd CACS will have a booth to celebrate California’s Cultural Diversity Day at the Sacramento Zoo. This day features entertainment, music, dance and information from the rich cultural diversity that defines California. Your support and commitment to the API Community is important to us. Please join us!
Joyce EngIt’s been a wonderful 2005 year with the leadership of Dr. Douglas Yee. It will be hard to follow in his footsteps, but I hope to do as good as a job as he has done over the past two years. Dr. Yee plans to be the Historical/Cultural chair along with his lovely wife Karun Yee.
The Board of Directors are very excited as we plan for 2006 with our upcoming Membership Dinner, our annual Dinner/Author Lecture, a planned field trip for all our members, Care for Kids Project and many other upcoming activities.
We’ve added two new board members this year, Dr. Wesley Yee and Dr. David Young (Pharmacist) and possibly two other potential board members may be joining us in February.
The success of any non-profit organization is through our membership, volunteers, and sponsors. I hope you will get involved with CACS this year and join us on March 23, 2006 at King’s Restaurant in West Sacramento. I look forward to meeting you and to encourage you to be more active with CACS.
Joyce Eng, President
Retiring President’s Parting Message
Dr. Douglas YeeCACS has just wrapped up the year 2005 and it’s been a banner year. We hosted a very well attended Author /Lecture Dinner featuring Mr. William Chew and his book “Nameless Builders of the Transcontinental”, we had a fascinating field trip to China Camp State Park, we participated for the fifth time in “Gold Rush Days”, and we honored Ms. Dolly Louie with the “Frank Fat Founder Award” at our annual Gold Mountain Celebration. All these events helped raise funds for our CACS Cares For Kids Projects. This year alone the Chinese American Council of Sacramento donated over $9000 to worthy children in Sacramento through our scholarships, school supply programs, and Operation Santa Claus.
Additionally, we have contributed $500 each to the Tsunami Relief and Hurricane Katrina Relief Funds. CACS is also a major supporter of CAPITAL, SCCSC, My Sister’s House, and many other deserving organizations.
How is it that we can take on so many ambitious programs? We owe much of our success to our generous sponsors, hardworking volunteers, and loyal members. These people are the life blood of an organization like CACS. I’m asking you to support our work in this community by first renewing your membership.
Then get involved by volunteering in some of these events. We are so privileged to live in this wonderfully diverse city. We really are obligated to give something back. I encourage everyone to make a New Year’s resolution to volunteer in some way to make Sacramento an even better place to live. If you are interested in helping, just phone Joyce Eng at (916) 424– 1374.
Dr. Douglas YeeOver the years, CACS has donated thousands of dollars to charities and scholarships. However, we knew we could do more for the community. The CACS Board has decided to create an entirely new program designed specifically to aid underprivileged children. This be appropriately titled “CACS Cares for Kids”. We have earmarked a major portion of our budget for this program. This month, funds are being used to purchase school supplies and sports equipment for two schools in the Lemon Hill area..
In December, CACS will purchase Christmas presents for many families who are clients of the Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center. We like to call this “ Operation Santa Claus”.
Frankly, the shoppers on our board get a great deal of gratification buying the Christmas gifts and dinners for these kids.
It is through your generous support that CACS is able to pro
Dr. Douglas YeeBefore writing the first President’s message of the year 4701, I decided to research the history of this organization. I believe that before you decide where you’re going, you should look back to see where you’ve been. To get that history, I contacted our legal counsel and charter member Jerry Chong who was there at the inception of the Chinese American Council of Sacramento. As expected, Jerry was forth coming with all the information I needed.
CACS was the brainchild of Mr. Frank Fat. He felt that there should be an organization that would speak as one political voice for the Chinese in Sacramento. In 1986, he formed an ad hoc steering committee that included Dolly Louie, Kim Lum, Dorine Chan, Baron Lowe, Lonnie Wong, Jerry Fat, Roger Fong, Ray Chan, Ron Tom, Ed Wong, Tom Chin, Jerry Chong, and was chaired by Roy Wong. After several organizational meetings and much hard work, the Chinese American Council of Sacramento was formed in 1987. Prior to that, no organization of this kind existed in our community.
The new mission statement was hotly debated by this committee. The final draft was the following: The Chinese American Council of Sacramento is an organization committed to building a stronger Chinese American presence through leadership in advocacy, civic, and cultural activities. The genius is in the simplicity of this statement.
Seventeen years ago, CACS was one of the first of a new generation of Chinese American organizations. Today there are many. CACS has been proud to share that leadership role with these organizations.
Currently CACS is providing leadership in many venues. Some of the areas where CACS is involved are the Locke restoration project, the Ping Yuen Senior Housing project, the Multicultural Committee of the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, Pacific Rim Street Fair, the Gold Rush Days event in Old Sacramento, the author/lecture dinLocke restoration project, the Ping Yuen Senior Housing project, the Multicultural Committee of the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, Pacific Rim Street Fair, the Gold Rush Days event in Old Sacramento, the author/lecture dinners, scholarships, U.S. Federal Courthouse historical display, and historical fieldtrips. We are also in the process of writing a book on the history of the Chinese in Sacramento, hopefully to be published in the near future. If you would like to become involved in any of these activities, please feel free to contact me ([email protected]). We are very proud of the fact that CACS has been the avenue which many of our current leaders have begun their community service careers.
In the year 4701, Year of the Monkey, I am optimistic about the future of CACS. Our board and advisory committee are filled with experienced and outstanding citizens of our community. With their help I am confident that CACS will continue to further the goals set forth by Mr. Frank Fat. We thank you for being a part of this future.
Dr. Douglas YeeThank you for making 2004 a great year for CACS. All four of our major events were extremely successful. In May, we took a wonderful bus trip to visit the historic Oroville Chinese Temple and museum. We were very fortunate to have Oroville descendent Dr. Gaing Chan as our guide.
In July, we hosted our annual Author/Lecture/ Dinner featuring Dr. Judy Yung. We had a great turn out to hear her lecture/slide presentation on her new book, “Unbound Voices”.
Over the Labor Day weekend, CACS steps back in time during Gold Rush Days in Old Sacramento. It’s one of the most satisfying feelings to share our Chinese history and culture with the 120,000 people who flow through the earth covered streets of Old Sacramento during the four-day event. Our “Gold Mountain Village” is staffed with over forty volunteers. You could be one next year.
Our final event of the year was our new signature event “Gold Mountain Celebration”. Over 300 guests packed the Discovery Museum to enjoy great food, wine and history. The highlight of the evening was the introduction of the 2004 Frank Fat Founder’s Award honoree, Supervisor Illa Collin. We also unveiled a new “Chinese in the Gold Rush” exhibit at the museum and the CACS Hall of Fame. CACS also monitors projects like the Locke Restoration and the Ping Yuen Apartment project to ensure that their Chinese heritage is respected The success of this year is due in large part to the dedicated directors and advisors of CACS. Without such a team effort, well organized events like these do not happen. However, the real credit for our success goes to you, the CACS members and supporters. Your attendance and participation at the events is the ultimate measure of our success. Please continue to support the Chinese American Council of Sacramento by renewing your membership. I also encourage you to get involved. Email me with your suggestions as to how we can serve our community better. We need your input. Please title your email “CACS Input” and sent it to [email protected].
