Please join us for an afternoon of Chinese culture with traditional tea ceremony and lecture, Chinese brush calligraphy and tasty snacks.
We will share with you updates of the Chinese American Council of Sacramento and CACS Foundation.
Special presentation and tea ceremony by Lily Emmolo. Lily is a traditionally trained tea master from China. She specializes in all aspects of China’s centuries old tea ceremony. This includes preparing and serving tea, tasting tea, as well as the related arts of poetry, calligraphy, dance and flower arranging. Lily currently works at Purple Cloud Tea House in Auburn.
This event is FREE to all current CACS members. We wish to make this a community event, please bring a guest, at no charge. We encourage guests to join our organization and will have membership applications available at the lecture. Come and enjoy this wonderful event with our compliments.
Please RSVP to Brenda Fong at [email protected] or call 916-392-0511
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.
Happy New Year!
Honey Lum, President
Happy New Year of the Rooster! We wish you a healthy and prosperous 2017!
I am very glad to be a part of the CACS family. Since joining the CACS Board in 2012, working with this dedicated group of leaders and volunteers has taught me so much. I have also seen this group grow. In order for CACS to continue developing and excel in our wonderful services and programs, we have formed a new 501 (c)(3) organization this year–the CACS Foundation. With the 501 (c)(3) designation, your generous donations are now tax deductable.
CACS Foundation will focus on cultural, historical, charitable programs and fund raising functions. The Chinese American Council of Sacramento will be expanding into the advocacy that was part of the original vision of Frank Fat, founder of CACS. We are still the same group of volunteers, same enthusiasm and dedication. We look forward to your continued support and recognition.
2017 is the 30th anniversary of CACS’ founding! I am honored to serve as the CACS Foundation President at this historical time. I look forward to seeing everyone at our Gold Mountain Celebration on October 14, 2017, to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Chinese American Council of Sacramento.
We express our sincere thanks to all of our Board Members, CACS Members and Volunteers for their hard work; and our sponsors and friends for their continued support. If you have any suggestions or ideas for CACS Foundation, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
All of our Best,
Cathy Wei, President, CACS Foundation
Douglas Hsia immigrated to the U.S. in 1974 and in 1980 he obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and his U.S. citizenship. It was at the very same time Red China (it was called at the time) started to open up for foreign business opportunities. Douglas took the opportunity to venture back to Hong Kong for China trade. At one time, his Hong Kong company was the largest importer of Italian leather to China.
Seeing that most people live a long life, he decided to come back to begin his second half in the Delta. He is living in the Sacramento River Delta with business dealings in Locke. Douglas claims he is too energetic to retire. He will carry on his entrepreneurial spirit in the Delta.
CACS Board of Directors supports ARI Lunar New Year Dinner on 2/26/17 at the Happy Garden Seafood Restaurant
By Jim T. Chong, Board Member
2016 is an exciting landmark year for the CACS community. One of the highlights of the CACS is the Gold Mountain Celebration where many other communities are able to join us in celebrating the year’s milestones.
This past year marked the 29th Anniversary of the Gold Mountain Celebration (GMC) traditionally held by the Chinese American Council of Sacramento and now also with the CACS Foundation that was formed this year. The GMC celebrates the annual accomplishments of the organization and recognizes selected officials and their contributions to the community. This annual event helps maintain the Chinese cultural heritage by recognizing significant contributors to the Chinese community and is also a time for celebration of the Chinese culture and history that brings together members and supporters of CACS.
In prior years, CACS held an annual “Gala” as a fundraiser to highlight the year’s events and accomplishments. Approximately 11 years ago, the late Douglas Yee recommended that the event be renamed the “Gold Mountain Celebration” honoring this very special and historical period in time during the Gold Rush when many Chinese emigrated to this country, specifically to the Gold Mountain (or “Gum Saan” in Cantonese). This year, the GMC will mark the first time where it also represents the CACS Foundation, which was created to perform the charitable work of the Chinese American Council Of Sacramento. The original Chinese American Council of Sacramento was formed as a 501(c)4, which served for advocacy. A 501(c)3 cahritable foundation was formed to better serve the community as a whole as many of the current activities will be focused on supporting the general public rather than advocacy.
The October 7, 2016, GMC at the Asian Pearl Restaurant honored key players in the Asian Community. Congratulations to the Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation (SASF), the recipients of the Community Service Award and the Honorable John Chiang, State Treasurer, who was awarded the 2016 Frank Fat Founders Award.
This year marks our 30th Anniversary of the Chinese American Council of Sacramento. Our GMC will be held at the Sacramento Sports Foundation of Sacramento on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. Please Save the Date and join us for a special 30th Anniversary Celebration!
By Anne Luong
This year CACS Foundation sponsored 100 families who received Christmas gifts for the applicants and their siblings. The event was held at Will C. Wood School where the families came to enjoy various arts & crafts stations. Face painting was the most attractive activity for the children. The families had a family portrait taken by our volunteer photographer, Mr. Ray Giles. Thank you Mr. Giles for all of your time and for donating the pictures to the families.
Thank you to all the volunteers for taking the time to shop, wrap, and deliver the presents, and helping out at the event. Thank you to all individuals who donated cash, toys, and beanie babies to the project. We could not have done it without all of your help in creating another successful Operation Santa Claus.
By Brenda Fong
This past September Board Members from the CACS Foundation were invited to the Crocker Art Museum’s Western-themed event for kids and their families. It was a fun day of western music performances, interactive art activities, and even gold panning demonstrations; participants were dressed in period costumes of the 1800s.
A big thank you to Stephen Tse and Jeanie Lee for providing Chinese calligraphy for the kids-they were fascinated to see their names phonetically written in characters. Karun Yee, Cathy Wei and I taught the kids how to make paper lanterns. Our table was such a hit, CACS is being asked to return next summer!
By Franc Martinez
The Walk4Literacy on Oct. 15, 2016, culminated at Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento. There were many booths that provided activities, educational items, and food for the walkers at the end of their long journey.
This was the first year that CACS Foundation participated in the event. We were happy to sponsor a booth with the Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center. We provided activities such as making paper lanterns and book markers.
By Franc Martinez
AAJA Sacramento hosted its “Chefs Showcase” on Oct. 11, 2016 at the Elliot Fouts Gallery. The event was well attended by the local media and Community Based Organizations (CBO).
The Chefs Showcase is AAJA’s main event to benefit student internships in journalism. Additionally some of the proceeds are used for other programs of AAJA’s Sacramento chapter.
The showcase highlighted local chefs Craig Takehara of Binchoyaki Izakaya Dining and Brock Macdonald of LowBrau/Block Butcher Bar. Congratulations to these two great chefs!
By Douglas Hsia
This year Locke Foundation’s traditional Harvest October dinner was under the banner of Fund Raising for the New Chinese Language Historic Marker while the previous year was under the banner of Locke Centennial Reunion. The event was an evolution from the Moon Harvest theme attended mainly by Locke’s original residents and their descendants to the present day’s much broader communities. As usual CACS is always supportive of Locke Foundation’s activities.
The dinner was held at the Hong Kong Islander Restaurant and attended by 150 guests. CACS’s delegation was 10 people strong. Past President Honey Lum wore two hats because she is also on the board of Locke Foundation. President Cathy Wei, Franc Martinez, Alex and Joyce Eng, Brenda Fong, Jim Chong, Keith Johnson and Karun Yee all participated in this joyful event.
In Chairman Stuart Walthall’s speech, he shared with us his joy of seeing how Locke Foundation grew since 2003, from an organization that was thought to be an organization to oversee her sister Locke Management Association to the present day of successfully carrying the torch of preserving and educating about this piece of significant heritage of our country. CACS congratulates them.
John Cabrillo Elementary and Pacific Elementary received Care for Kids school supplies in 2016. The students were very excited to receive the items that they can use for school, which included general school supplies, arts and crafts supplies, board games, and sports equipment. The principals at each school greeted CACS with a big welcome and “Thank You” cards.