2023 August Newsletter
Summer's Over! Kizuna is Back to Tell the Tale
Fri, Aug 25, 2023 10:00 am
2023 Kizuna Summer Camp Season Has Come to an End!!
2023 Kizuna Summer Camps Has Officially Ended! We had such a blast every week for 6 weeks, meeting hundreds of amazing campers and counselors all around Southern California! It was a celebration of cultures and identity and community, and we could not have done this without all of our amazing supporters!
If you were a fan of our social media updates every day, take the memories from this summer home with you.☀️ We made SIX different yearbooks for each summer camp location! This new yearbook project for us was definitely time-consuming, but also super rewarding to make a physical reminder of the magic that happened at summer camp! We don't want to forget the good times, so we hope you don't either! You're able to preview each book before purchasing by hitting the preview icon (not the "Read Sample" button). All profit will go straight back into funding Kizuna & our summer camps!💗
(THANK YOU to our NCI intern, Lisa Hisamura, for her work on this!)
2023 Nikkei Community Internship Successfully Finishes!
Ice Cream Social for Our 2023 Summer Camp Counselor Team!
Summer Camp usually brings to mind our young campers participating in Little Tokyo tours, onigiri workshops and more. However, the backbone of Kizuna Summer Camps are the dedicated Grey and Yellow Shirt Counselors who ensure that workshops are prepped, skinned knees are bandaged and soooo much more! This is all while they connect youth to Japanese American culture. On the Saturday after our last Summer Camp, we hosted an ice cream social at the Terasaki Budoukan to express our kansha for their tireless work. Thank you all for such a memorable summer!
WE CAN’T BELIEVE THE 21ST SEASON OF NCI IS OVER! The program ended just like how it started… with a Japantown Retreat! Our SoCal interns flew up to the NorCal interns this time for 3 amazing days of tours, workshops, food, and meeting with community leaders, NCI alumni, & family/friends! HUGE thank you to all of our supporters, workshop leaders, organizations that hosted interns this year, AND the Japanese American Museum of San Jose & the Japanese Community Youth Council for taking care of all of the SJ & SF interns. Congratulations to our 2023 NCI interns and Alan Takashi Riley (Kizuna’s Programs Coord) for successfully completing this year’s NCI program!!🎉
We’re so excited to see how our 2023 cohort will positively influence their current and future communities.💛
Taste of Kizuna 2023!
You Are Cordially Invited to Taste of Kizuna! On November 7th, Kizuna is honored to work again with Andy Nakano and a team of celebrated LA executive chefs for an exclusive dinner engagement to benefit Kizuna. Andy Nakano has handpicked chefs Chris Ono, Suzanne Tracht and others to craft a multi-course selection of dinner and drink pairings for an intimate night at Jar. Exceptional drinks are coming from Suntory and Mutual Trading. Last year, we sold out of seats and we expect the same this year. This private experience is absolutely delectable, so please be on the lookout for more updates on how to reserve a seat.
Our 2022 Gallery can be viewed below to see the love and care that was put into the delicious dishes and this lovely evening.
Showdown 2023: SAVE THE DATE
Kizuna Showdown... Your Favorite Ultimate Game Night
While you wait, prepare for the competition by checking out the fierce battles and champions from last year's Showdown by clicking the button below!
Stay tuned for more updates as we prepare for this year's night of challenges and feats of will! Mark your calendars for November 18th!
Community News!
Little Tokyo Service Center's Social Services Department, in partnership with the JANM, is hosting a day-long conference to offer a welcoming space for the Asian American community to come TOGETHER to address, examine, and understand mental health in its various forms. Conference plenaries will be interspersed with workshops and small group discussions that focus on specific topics related to mental health.
In support of the ohana/kazoku/families on Maui, “Defining Courage” is coming to Torrance/South Bay with a very special ‘Aloha’ edition!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th @7PM
The Marsee Auditorium at El Camino College
16007 Crenshaw Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90506
TICKETS AVAILABLE SOON!
100% proceeds to benefit Hawai’i Community Foundation - Maui Strong Fund
