By Joyce Eng

CACS Foundation supports OCA-Sacramento’s 31st Annual Dragon Boat Festival Celebration on Thursday, May 21, 2026 at Doubletree, Sacramento. Over 600 people attended this event honoring Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen with the Trailblazer in Public Service Award; Nancy & Darrel Woo with the Community Legacy Award; Joanna Diaz Soffer for T-Mobile with the Corporate Community Impact Award; Andrew Yang with the Emerging Leadership Award and Daniela Hacinas Dolar with the Rising Star Award.

In addition, OCA-Sacramento runs an Essay Contest and this year’s 7 Scholarship recipients received monetary awards during this year’s Dragon Boat Festival Celebration. Darrel Woo was the mediator for the Essay Contest Scholarships. The recipients are under Grades 6-8 category, 1st Place Winner Aayan Banerjee, 7th grade Winston Churchill Middle School; 2nd Place winner Matthew Feng, 8th Grade Miwok Middle School; 3rd Place winner Olliver Landicho, 6th Grade Valley Robotics Academy. Grades 9-10 category, 1st Place sinner Kingsley Hung, 10th Grade Franklin High School; 2nd Place winner Sadaf Hassany, 10th grade Bella Vista High School. 11-12 Category First Place winner Jasmine Phan, 12th grade Franklin High School; 2nd Place winner Shreya Aggarwai, 11th grade Vista del Lago High School. Congratulations to all 7 recipients.

Attending this event from CACS Foundation were President Franc Martinez, Council Chair Alex Eng, Treasurer Joyce Eng, Historical Chair Karun Yee, Secretary Anita Lo and her son Kelvin, CACS Locke representative Honey Lum. Fusako Mizushima and Mary Caniglia from the Matsuyama Sacramento Sister City Corporation also joined the CACS Foundation table. Photos taken are with Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho and Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen.

The evening was filled with various ethnic entertainment including a 9 years old child prodigy playing the violin. Congratulations to OCA-Sacramento for putting on a wonderful event!

By Joyce Eng

In the past 26 years, CACS Council and Foundation has supported APSEA with a $1,000 scholarship each year. This year was no exception! Franc Martinez, President of CACS Foundation presented the $1,000 award to Sofia Yee.

Sofia Yee is a senior at West Campus High School. In the fall, Sofia will be attending Pomona College as a prospective English and Math Major. Inspired by the Rotary and Interact Club motto of “Service Above Self,” she hopes to become an attorney, with the goal of helping others. Outside of school, Sofia served as the president of the Pocket Library Teen Advisory Board and volunteered with Asian Resources, Inc. You can probably find Sofia in the kitchen with a whisk in hand, testing out the latest batch of chocolate chip cookies.

In addition to 7 scholarship recipients, California Department of Tax and Fee Administration received the APSEA President’s Award, Aman Thiara from the Department of Human Resources received the APSEA Member of the Year Award and Stephanie Tom, Deputy Treasurer of the California State Treasurer’s Office received the APSEA Foundation Community Leadership Award.

Franc represented CACS Foundation well and we are proud to be part of the celebration. The event was held on Thursday, May 14, 2026 at Cafeteria 15L in midtown Sacramento. Congratulations to the Scholarship and Awards Recipients!

By Karun Yee
CACS Foundation Historical Chair

Sacramento History Day this year was submitted online with guidance from Dr. Bob LaPierre. The topic this year was “Revolution, Reaction and Reform”. Students formulated their projects around this theme. Six projects were selected for review relating to Chinese History and three were chosen for monetary rewards.

The first award was “The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 “ by Rochelle Marwan. This elementary School poster project told the story of the Chinese in Sacramento who asked for improvements that led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of May 6, 1812. (There was so much public debate that Kearney stated “The Chinese must go”.) This was after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.

The second award was given to Aili Zhang who designed a junior website entitled, “The Chinese Liberation War”. This website chronicles the end of the Qing Dynasty to the separation of the Communist and Nationalist parties and who (US involvement) was backing each one. Extensive research revealing this story, demonstrated all the effort put into this project.

The third award goes to Dev Nishra who developed “Gentlemen, This is no humbug. The Revolution of Anesthesia”. This senior documentary reveals the development and history of elimination of pain through anesthesia. It’s tie to ancient Chinese herbalists changed the Idea of how to eliminate painful surgeries from wined herbs to nitrous oxide and ether.

Click to download for additional readings about the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars also translated as The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twenty-four_Filial_Exemplars
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/51809
https://www.ruf.rice.edu/~asia/24ParagonsFilialPiety.html

CACS designed an artistic and educational 2026 calendar by our creative board members. Each month features intriguing traditional filial piety stories of individuals who truly live “family first.” We hope it will inspire your interest to explore further the rich heritage of our culture and to share this with others.

The calendar indicates major US holidays and marks each day with the Chinese calendar date, as well as shows our sponsors and their special events.

We sincerely appreciate your support by purchasing this year’s calendar in order for CACS to continue its mission. We wish you a happy and prosperous Year of the Horse 2026.

If you have any questions, please free to contact June Fong at
[email protected]

By Joyce Eng

On Thursday, August 28, 2025 CAPITAL had their last Scholarship and Farewell Dinner at Happy Garden Seafood Restaurant. It was attended by many APIA leaders, CACS Foundation board members and friends as well as Dignitaries like Congressman Doris Matsui, Former City Council member Jimmie Yee, Police Chief Kathy Lester, and Former Sacramento School Board Member Darrel Woo, This year’s CAPITAL Scholarship is created in memory of our fierce leader, Dr. Sonney Chong, DMD. Each student was awarded a $10,000 dental scholarship for their commitment to the Asian, Pacific Islander or Native American Community through proven community service. Those recipients were Mariah Sharp, Krishna Priya Upadrasta, Andrew Nguyen, Subin Choi and Hannah Lu.

CAPITAL Founding and Farewell – it was through CAPITAL that many of us found our voice and became leaders within our own communities. While CAPITAL was an organization that involved many organizations and many leaders from the community, Dr. Chong’s passing and significantly changing times, it would be impossible to sustain CAPITAL’s existence moving forward. Many of the organizations that were only in their infancy during CAPITAL’s founding are fully mature and can now proudly stand on their own under the strength of their leaders and supporters. As such, we honor Dr. Chong’s relentless dedication to serving the community by passing the fire of CAPITAL’s torch back to the groups that founded it.

By Joyce Eng

Board members Alex and Joyce Eng and Honey Lum of CACS Foundation attended the Delta Leadership Foundation (formerly Delta Regional Foundation, founded under the leadership of Moni Kondos in 2015) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on fostering and recognizing leadership in the Delta region, both through the Delta Leadership Program and the Delta Champion Award. Former City School Board Member Darrel Woo and his wife Nancy Woo was also in attendance as well as many Locke friends and family members.

On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, Clarence Chu among others received the 2025 Delta Champion Award. Clarence Chu received the Delta Lifetime Achievement award for his many years in preserving the cultural history of Locke and improving the infrastructure of the town of Locke with the County of Sacramento, Parks and Recreation, Water Works, and several other entities. In addition he and his family has made several purchases of buildings in Locke to open it to the public for visitations such as the Locke Boarding House, the School house and the Dai Loy Museum. Congratulations Clarence for his many years of service, he is more than deserving of the honor of the Delta Lifetime Achievement Award.

By KARUN YEE

The Chinese American Council of Sacramento Foundation sponsored it’s 3 rd annual community picnic this August in the foothill town of Fiddletown located 6 miles east of Plymouth. The early morning scenic drive through the foothills on highway 12 was invigorating, and gave our visitors a feel, for the pioneering spirit that moved our ancestors to adventures heading west. The wide open fields past Slough House farmer’s market just glowed in the morning sun.

The Fiddletown Preservation Society headed by President Janet Migliore, met us at the park adjacent to the Chew Kee Museum. Already in preparation for the picnic were Kenny, the grill master and the chicken, LJ with the AV equipment and Janet with tablecloths, sunflower centerpieces, water and ice plus additional tables and chairs. Her crew would be docents at the museum after lunch. Since we had produced this event before, we were ready.

Annie Zhang and her husband came early to set up their art display tent. Cathy Wei’s crew set up the Shen Yun tent. The Chinese New Year Culture Association Group had a booth headed by Rung Fong. CACS had our resident calligrapher; Steven Tse and Betty Louie did children’s tattoos in our activity tent. Our large CACS tent displayed our public relations materials and other organizations as well as things to sell.

After welcoming our guests and explaining the main reason we hold this event; (community engagement among friends and other organizations) we were eagar to taste all the delectable food only a pot luck can produce. The Chew Kee Museum was open to our guests (approximate 75) and everyone enjoyed renewing and networking with each other.

A big thank you for the CACS committee who came to make this all happen; Franc Martinez, Joyce Eng, Kingman Louie, Annie Leong, Derrick Lim, June Fong, Abraham Fong, Cathy Wei, Honey Lum, Betty Louie and chair Karun Yee. We are especially grateful for all the great people who came out to drive all the way to Fiddletown, and share a meal and moment with us.

By Joyce Eng
On Wednesday, April 30, 2025 CACS Foundation Board President Franc Martinez, CACS Council Chair Alex Eng and Treasurer Joyce Eng attended and supported APSEA 25th Annual Scholarship & Awards reception at the House Kitchen & Bar on Capital Mall. Franc presented the $1,000 CACS Foundation Scholarship to Michelle Han.

Michelle Han is a senior attending Benicia High School with a 4.75 GPA. She has committed to Princeton University, where she plans to major in Molecular Biology. Afterwards she intents to intern in the Bay Area and secure a position at a biotechnology firm, focusing on genetically modifying plants to increase yields, enhance disease resistance, and climate adaptation. She enjoys physical activity and hoped to develop a workout routine to prepare for the biking and walking she need to navigate Princeton’s campus. Additionally, Michell aims to learn how to cook her mother’s traditional Chinese dishes to enjoy home-cooked meals in college.

The same evening Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen was awarded the APSEA President’s Award, Ralph Black accepted the APSEA’s Member of the Year Award and Jason Jong, APSEA Foundation’s Community Leadership Award. Congratulations all!

By Joyce Eng
The late Dr. Sonney Chong was posthumously awarded the Asian Pacific CultureFest Inspiration Award on Sunday May 4, 2025 at the Asian Pacific CultureFest held in Elk Grove Community Center at Civic Center Drive .

Alex Eng, CACS Council Chair represented the CACS Foundation to speak about Sonney and his involvement with CACS and CAPITAL in which Sonney was co-founder and chair since 1997. CAPITAL was the umbrella organizations of over 91 APIA organizations including Hmong, Mien, Pacific Islanders, Muslims, LGPTQ. CACS Legal Counsel and brother Jerry Chong accepted the Asian Pacific CultureFest Inspiration Award on behalf of Dr. Sonney Chong.

There were over 30 vendors as well as food trucks at this event and I would say there was at least over 1,000 people enjoying the festivities, entertainment and food from 10 am to 4 pm that Sunday!