Alex EngGreetings Fellow CACS Members, Friends, and Loyal Supporters!
The new era of Honorable Frank Fat’s legacy lives on! The formation of the CACS Foundation and the CACS Council is working well.
My thanks to Board member and Secretary Keith Johnson, who, through his experience, expertise, and infinite patience, has been guiding us through this period of adjustment. His efforts to ensure that we adhere to the guidelines required of the two organizations has been no small challenge!
Many thanks to Honey Lum, Cathy Wei, and Joyce Eng for their leadership for the last two years; and to the continued loyal support of you, our CACS members as we negotiate these unknown waters!
The Council welcomes, Aubrie Fong (Staff, Assembly member Kevin McCarty), Harry He (Elk Grove Democrats), and Douglas Hsia (Locke Foundation) into its ranks! We look forward to your new perspectives and vitality!
Under the guidance of advisor Kim Tucker (Impact Foundry) the rebuilding of the Council looks very promising! Kim was the moderator for the 2019 Council Retreat and will be following up in the following months.
Please check on the CACS website (cacsweb.org) periodically for the latest news on our progress and the latest word on what is going on in the community.
Warmest Regards,
Gung Hay Fat Choy and Sun Nean Fay Lok! Welcome 2018 and Year of the Dog! It has been an exciting 30th Anniversary year for the Chinese American Council of Sacramento (CACS) and we thank all the community partners, sponsors and supporters for your generous contributions to expand our programs; see featured story in this newsletter.
On January 20th, I participated in the Women’s March in Sacramento with over 30,000 people in attendance and started the march with City Mayor Darrell Steinberg, City Manager, Howard Chan, and Police Captain, Norm Leong, at the Southside Park. The march proceeded to the State Capitol and I stayed to experience the uplifting speeches and performers who represented diverse community groups. Not only was the march recognizing women issues; many men and children came to support the social issues magnified by the National leadership such as the immigration policies affecting “Dreamers”.
On January 30th, CACS participated at the Capitol Legislative Reception hosted by the Asian Pacific Islander Public Affairs Association at the Sutter Club which was attended by over 200 elected officials and guests. Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon received the Civic Engagement award, Senator Jim Nielson received the Lifetime Achievement award, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon received the Civic Engagement award.
Members will be attending the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad Inaugural Banquet at the California Railroad Museum on February 13th and the APAPA Shining Stars Gala on April 7th to support their Internship program at the State Capitol. I hope you will enjoy many of the special events for the Lunar New Year and eat the tasty foods symbolic of harmonious life. Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Year!
Honey Lum, President Chinese American Council of Sacramento
Dear CACS CACS (the original Council) has spent much of the year preparing the paperwork, doing the research and guiding the process to create the CACS Foundation 501(c)(3). Thanks to Keith Johnson, we now have the newly formed CACS Foundation.
Even though we were busy with that the Council still found time to support APAPA in their Voters’ Forum and to partner with Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus out of San Francisco to conduct poll monitoring on Election Day, November 8, 2016.
During the last 29 years we have promoted communication, cooperation and unification among existing Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) peoples. In May we encouraged Governor Brown to sign AB 1726 (Bonta). That bill expanded on existing disaggregated data collection, including data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), making critical identifications of a range of different health challenges and disparities experienced by each AAPI subgroup, rather than lumping all AAPI together. This bill was signed into law 9/25/16.
The Board sent a letter to voice concerns about the City of Sacramento’s Police Accountability efforts. Honey Lum attended the City Council meeting November 30, 2016, to support Andy Noguchi, President of the Florin JACL and other API organizations that were present to oppose the City’s proposal.
Our Board of Directors is robust with CACS co-founder Alex Eng as Vice Chair and Joyce Eng as Treasurer. Keith Johnson serves as Secretary and yours truly, Honey Lum, is President. Cathy Wei, President of CACS Foundation, is an at-large member. We especially welcome Douglas Hsia to the Board. Douglas brings direct experience of Chinese national life and politics with him to our organization.
Exposing our members to all aspects of the political process, including probable events like seminars on the California legislative process, lobbying techniques, aiding our members in identifying open seats of county and city boards and commissions and then either applying or running for them. The Asian community has thus been better represented over the years but there is still a lot to be done. The Council looks to be an influential and recognized organization.
The Council held their planning retreat in late January and looks to work toward building a membership of participants who have interest in advocating at all levels of government regarding a wide range of topics. More will be revealed in the next newsletter and on the CACS Web site.
CACS President Honey LumDear CACS Friends and Members,
It’s been an exciting 2016 . . . CACS congratulates our very own Directors Joyce and Alex Eng in receiving the Community Service Leadership award from the Asian Pacific Islander Public Affairs Association (APAPA) on May 7 at the Grand Sheraton. Both deserve this recogniton for outstanding contri-butions to the Northern California area for over 28 years of community service and leadership. Today, they unselfishly mentor CACS board directors while serving and balancing support to other non-profit organizations that enrich the lives of many through civic and social engagement.
I am pleased to welcome Vaneesa Lam to our CACS Board. An Asian Studies major from UC Berkeley, she has studied at Peking University and been involved with the Asian-Pacific Chamber of Commerce. Her passion is to educate the public about Asian culture and her background is aligned with CACS’s mission in preserving Chinese Culture. Her story is featured in this newsletter.
This year is a Presidental election year where there are many issues that will affect public policy and we encourage you to educate yourself before exer-cising your votes in November. CACS will be at the Voter’s Education Forum at CSUS on Saturday, Sept. 24, to educate and learn about the current election topics.
On Oct. 7, please join CACS at the Annual Gold Mountain Celebration at Asia Pearl as we award California State Treasurer John Chiang the Fank Fat Founders award and present the Sacramento Asian Sports Founda-tion (SASF) the Community Service Award.. The Honorable John Chiang and the SASF have contributed im-mensely to California. I look forward to meeting you at our GMC and thank Anne Luong and Karun Yee, Co-Chairs, for planning this event. These proceeds benefit our cultural and educational programs to develop youth and promote leadership.
On behalf of the Board, we thank the following community organiza-tions who included the CACS in their programs, and have contributed to our mission to educate and promote future leaders. We reciprocated in financial and other support to Asian Resources on Jan. 26; Sacramento County His-tory Day on March 5; Sacramento Mayor’s Town Hall Discussion on April 18; APSEA Scholarship Gala on April 19 with a $1,000 Scholarship; APAPA 12th Annual Capitol Intern-ship & Scholarship Gala on May 7; OCA Dragon Boat on May 12; Pacific Rim Street Festival on May 14; Locke Spring Festival on May 21; and the Mandarin Immerson Program on May 27, where CACS donated $1,000 to the Chinese language program at Wil-liam Land Elementary school.
Many thanks again to our dedicated Board, Advisors and wonderful vol-unteers for their continued hard work to support CACS! I hope you enjoy the Summer and have a safe journey. Please let me know if you have ideas for CACS by reaching me at (916) 261-2118 or at [email protected].
CACS President Honey LumGung Hay Fat Choy & Sun Nein Fay Lok!
Dear Friends and Members,
My Best Wishes to you and your families for a very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year, and welcome to the Year of the Red Monkey!
2015 was a truly historic year for the CACS Board, with Joyce Eng and I celebrating the Chinese contribution in California history by planning the festivities for the 100-year anniversary of the town of Locke. CACS directors also participated in the 150-year anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad events at the California Railroad museum and rode the Union Pacific train through the Sierra Nevada. In April, we enjoyed a bus trip to San Francisco to tour the Alcatraz prison and the artist Ai Wei Wei’s exhibit there. Ai Wei Wei is a political prisoner in China and his artwork shows a global message for the struggle of human rights.
In October 2015, CACS hosted our Gold Mountain Celebration at the Asian Pearl Restaurant, presenting California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye with the Frank Fat Founder’s award and conducting Sylvia Sun-Minnick into the Frank Fat Hall of Fame. Through the successful planning and outreach of co-chairs Anne Luong and Franc Martinez, more than 450 people attended our wonderful dinner and were serenaded by the Marhorlika Lions singing “old school” and popular music. CACS thanks our friends, many volunteers and the partial list of sponsors who supported us to enrich the community programs: Fat Family; Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, Union Local 46; Cache Creek Casino Resort; Thunder Valley Casino Resort; Locke Foundation; City of Sacramento; Sharif Jewelers; Artist Ning Hou; Eva and Clarence Chu; Michael David Winery; Mark Wilson; Moon Cafe Art Gallery (DR Wagner, Russell Ooms, and Joe Chan); Target in Folsom; Trader Joe’s in Folsom; Walmart in Folsom; friends from the town of Locke; and CACS Directors. We wish to also thank our community partners who are listed in the GMC program book. This GMC dinner and others events that CACS attended during the past months are in this newsletter.
CACS directors continue to cultivate collaborative partnerships with API and other organizations to educate the community about Chinese culture and heritage. Cathy Wei, CACS vice-president, volunteers each year to support the Shen Yun classical Chinese dance program and encourages the public to enjoy the beautiful program. The Chinese New Year Celebration at Hiram Johnson High School continues to grow each year. Both programs are highly attended and promote Chinese culture through music and dance. During this Lunar New Year festivities, I hope you find time to enjoy the symbolic foods served to bring good luck and harmonious life.
I thank Past President Kingman Louie for his unsurpassed leadership at CACS. He will be leaving CACS and will continue to serve the boards at the Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation and at the FBI Academy while maintaining his optometry practices. Kingman has also been instrumental to take care of the PA system at all CACS events to ensure we have the most positive sights and sounds. Please see our website at www.cacs.org for more information and get involved early! I hope to see you at our next author lecture dinner, bus trip, or GMC. If you have any suggestions about the programs for CACS, please contact me at (916) 261-2118 or at [email protected]
It’s summertime and a heatwave in Sacramento – stay cool. These first six months have passed so quickly, with the Board officers and advisors kept busy attending community events and participating in outreach with our partners. We are delighted to share those stories in this feature newsletter with you: April bus trip to Alcatraz, the Locke Centennial celebration, and the 150th Anniversary Celebration of the Chinese Building of the US Transcontinental Railroad. During my second term, we continue to focus on supporting programs which promote and educate the community about Chinese culture, youth leadership/development, and civic engagement.
I am pleased to welcome Keith Johnson to our CACS Board, who is currently serving as the Secretary. He is an accomplished writer and is involved with nonprofits in the Sacramento community. His passion is to help organizations succeed in whatever mission they are focused with. Please read Keith’s story for more information about his goals. We thank Karun Yee, former Secretary, for her time in serving during the past years. Karun remains on the Board to assist with youth development programs through Cares for Kids and Operation Santa Claus. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Advisors, and myself, we thank the following community organizations who included CACS in their programs and contributed to our mission to educate and promote future leaders. So far this year, CACS reciprocated with financial and other support as follows:
Sacramento County History Day, March 7 – CACS awarded scholarships to two students.
APAPA – 11th Annual Capitol Internship & Scholarship Gala, April 11 – CACS awarded $1,000 scholarship to Belinda Li.
APSEA – Annual Scholarship Gala, April 21 – CACS awarded $1,000 to Alexandria Jang.
Locke Centennial, May 9 – Joyce Eng and I served as co-chairs in planning this event for the Locke Foundation.
OCA Dragon Boat, May 14 – OCA celebrated 20th Anniversary and recognized all past Presidents, including our very own CACS Treasurer, Joyce Eng.
150th Anniversary – Transcontinental Railroad Gala dinner, May 15 — at the California Railroad Museum.
My Sister’s House, May 18 – CACS donated $2,000 to support MSH efforts to provide safe haven for Asian women and children who are experiencing domestic violence.
During this year, CACS is endeavoring to raise funds with your generous donations to financially support the Mandarin Immersion Program, which is operated, in part, through the Sacramento Unified School District. The district has two elementary schools which provide Chinese language classes, William Land and Elder Creek Elementary schools.
On October 30th, please join CACS at the 28th Annual Gold Mountain Celebration at Asian Pearl as we award the Frank Fat Founders award to California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, and induct Sylvia Sun-Minnick into the Frank Fat Hall of Fame. Both individuals have contributed immensely to California. I look forward to meeting you at our GMC event. If you have any suggestions about the programs for CACS, please contact me at (916) 261-2118 or at [email protected]
CACS President Honey LumDear CACS Friends and Members,
Spring is here and our Board Officers have been kept very busy with community networking and outreach. I extend my personal thanks to the Board for this first quarter to continue the excellent programs to engage and collaborate with our community. We have continued to meet many friends and community leaders who make a difference in the Greater Sacramento area. My board and I attended a number of social fund-raising and educational programs and we share those feature stories in this newsletter. I hope you will enjoy reading these stories and let me know how you can help with serving CACS’ mission and attend our next event.
On March 21st, we hosted a very successful Membership and Volunteers Appreciation Dinner at the Holiday Villa. I thank Cathy Wei, VP, for chairing this event. We met new friends and gained some new members. In addition, Mr. Jim T. Chong joined the CACS board recently and he is a very talented writer for the APA Newspaper, among, his other professional interest as a financial consultant.
I would like to thank the following organizations who included the Chinese American Council of Sacramento in their programs and where we reciprocated in financial and other support to the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Sacramento Florin Chapter – “Time of Remem- berance” – Candle Light Ceremony at the California Museum on 2/15; Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) – 15th Annual Scholarship/Internship Dinner where CACS’ contribution supports the educational, internship and civic engagement programs on 4/6; Asian Pacific State Employees Association (APSEA) where CACS provided a $1,000 scholarship to Albert Lui, Mira Loma High School student on 4/22; Sacramento Florin JACL and CAIR – Greater Sacramento Chapter (Council of American-Islamic Relations) 9th Annual Pilgrimmage to Manzanar on 4/25-27; OCA Dragon Boat Celebration on 5/3; My Sister’s House where CACS donated $2,000 to support its efforts to provide a safe haven for Asian women and children who are experiencing domestic violence on 5/19. In all, we have been busy at the above outreach programs to support those organizations that shared mutual interest with the mission and goals of CACS.
If you have any suggestions about the programs for CACS, please call me at (916) 261-2118 or at [email protected]. All the Best,
CACS President Honey LumDear CACS Friends and Members,
Gung Hay Fat Choy & Sun Nien Fay Lok! I welcome you all to the Year of the Wood Horse – My Best Wishes to you and your families for a very Happy, Prosperous, and Healthy New Year!
On behalf of the CACS Board, I thank Past President Alex Eng for his leadership during this past year. We have accomplished the strategic action items under his leadership planned for the year and with an ending balance & positive cash flow!
We are also very proud and congratulate Alex as the recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellow. This is the highest award given to a Lions Club member for Humanitarian Services by the Lions Club International Foundation. Alex continues to serve on a number of community boards and remains active on the Sacramento County Adult & Aging Commission.
I am very pleased to announce that the entire board of directors and advisors are staying on and will continue to help CACS leap forward to new horizons and programs. My emphasis will be to increase visibility with the API community and cultivate collaborative partnerships with other organizations to promote and preserve Chinese culture and heritage. I will continue to foster good well by supporting our existing programs and bringing new ideas to the Board for consideration, e.g., youth development through scholarship opportunities, health and healing workshops, and educating our members and the public about Chinese culture and heritage.
I thank our Board, members, sponsors and volunteers for the past year and for their generous contributions to support the CACS programs.
The Gold Mountain Celebration reached the highest raffle sales ever with the help of our volunteers: Laura Cates, Bella Cates (Sac County Work Experience Program), Emanuel Meneiloa, Kristin Wong and Michelle Wong (School of Engineering and Sciences – Pocket area).
I look forward to meeting you at our Annual Members and Volunteers Appreciation Dinner on Friday, March 21st at 6 p.m., at the Holiday Villa Restaurant. We will be honoring Dr. David Young for his leadership in partnering with the Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center to chair the Cares for Kids program. He purchased more than $1,500 in school supplies for two needy elementary schools in Sacramento: Caroline Wenzel and the Camellia Basic Elementary.
If you have any suggestions about CACS programs, please feel free to contact me at (916) 261-2118 or at [email protected].
It is unbelievable that 2013 is coming to a close! I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for participating and supporting CACS and its projects throughout the year. Without you, CACS would not be able to fulfill its mission and serve the community.
It has been a very busy 2013 – CACS remains connected to the community by supporting a number of other CBOs and community programs by participating in their events. They included: AAJA Sacramento, ARI, APAPA, APSEA, CAPITAL, Florin JACL, My Sister’s House, OCA Sacramento, SCCSC, Locke Foundation, History Day Project, Sacramento History Consortium, and Pacific Rim Street Festival.
2013 CACS highlights (see articles in this newsletter):
CACS welcomed five new lifetime members and eight individual members.
July 12 – CACS hosted an exciting and educational day trip to Angel Island; 55 members and friends visited & toured the immigration center.
September, Cares for Kids Project – over $1,500 in school supplies to two elementary schools. Kudos to Dr. David Young, the project coordinator!
October 4 – Gold Mountain Celebration Dinner was both a financial and social success, bringing together our members and community leaders to acknowledge the Frank Fat Founders Honoree – ACC Senior Services and its CEO, Donna Yee; and to induct Mr. Philip P. Choy, author, historian, community leader, into the CACS Historical Hall of Fame. Kudos to Joyce Eng and event co-chairs Cathy Wei and Honey Lum and CACS board and volunteers!
December 12 – Operation Santa Claus Project: CACS will be donating over $5,000 in toys for over 150 low income children. Thanks to Karun Yee and Merlayna Yee-Chin for recruiting over 22 volunteers to shop and wrap.
I would like to extend my personal appreciation to the CACS Board for all the hard work and dedication they put in to make things happen in 2013 and to lay the foundation for the future of CACS. They are indeed special people!
A happy and safe holiday season to you and your loved ones!
Alex EngAllow me to extend my appreciation to the CACS Board Members for all the hard work and hours they put in. Considering we have only 8 voting board members, it’s amazing how much CACS is able to accomplish!
It’s been a busy quarter for CACS. So many things going on in the community; so little time! Highlights include the Asian Resources Lunar New Year’s Celebration on Feb. 21 (table sponsor); March 9, Board Members Karun Yee and Mary Hughes judged entries for the Annual County History Day on (see Page 3); and April 23 the CACS board attended the APSEA Scholarship Dinner as a Bronze sponsor.
Of particular note, the very successful CACS Annual Membership/Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on April 7 honored Pearl (Cho) Chang and John Cho as the outstanding CACS Members of 2013 (see Page 2). My personal congratulations and gratitude for their volunteerism at countless CACS events! My thanks also to Merlayna Yee and the Volunteers who pitched in for the Gold Mountain Celebration and the Cares for Kids projects. To the new members, and the renewing CACS members, welcome! Your support of CACS is greatly appreciated!
Since May is officially Asian Pacific Islander Month, it was especially busy with back-to-back events, beginning with the OCA Sacramento Dragon Boat Celebration on May 5. On May 11 CACS made a donation to the Locke Foundation and hosted a booth at the Locke Foundation’s Annual Spring Festival. Sacramento’s annual Pacific Rim Street Fest was held on May 19. CACS’s Joyce Eng coordinated our CACS booth volunteers (Karun Yee, Honey Lum, Stephen Tse, Jeanie Lee) on that hot, windy day.
CACS continues to network with other nonprofit organizations by attending meetings and events hosted by CAPITAL, APAPA, OCA, Sacramento Consortium, and many others… so little time, so many meetings!
BTW, Congratulations to the Fat Family! Frank Fat Restaurant was awarded New York’s James Beard Foundation’s American Classics Lifetime Achievement Award for its timeless appeal and outstanding quality of food. We’re very proud of you! (see Page 4)
