2024 October Newsletter
What Does Kizuna Have In Store for October?🎃
Saturday, October 19, 2024 12:00 pm
Leadership in Action Applications Open!
Leadership in Action examines civil liberties and civil rights issues by diving into past violations, surveying current challenges in our diverse communities, and determining a course of action to fight such infringements. Participants will meet in Little Tokyo to learn firsthand from community activists through guided tours, presentations, discussions, hands-on activities & more over 10 Saturday afternoons. Ultimately, participants will educate the public by collaborating, designing, and executing group projects which address civil liberties infringements that are currently happening OR have happened so as to prevent their happening again. Open to teens 13-18 years old. Deadline to apply is December 2nd.
Read The Latest Kizuna Blog Post!
At the start of 2024, Lexie Morita joined Kizuna’s 10-week Leadership in Action Program, where she explored with her team what it truly means to fight for human rights. From developing a children’s book on the Japanese American incarceration to connecting with her roots, read more about Lexie’s journey through education, unity, and resilience.
Project Kokoro’s Family Day at OCBC
We were so happy to be invited back to OCBC for Project Kokoro’s Family Day (Kazoku no Hi)! With a theme like “ohana,” we really hoped to teach the children about the Japanese immigration to Hawaii in the 1880’s to the early 1900’s and how many Japanese Americans today have ancestral roots in Hawaii. We prepared a fun paper lei activity for all ages and also taught the cultural significance of what a lei symbolizes!
Taste of Kizuna: Newest Updates
We’re thrilled to announce the addition of renowned Chef Celestino Drago to our incredible lineup! A pioneer of Italian cuisine in Los Angeles, Chef Drago is celebrated for his iconic restaurants such as IL Pastaio, Drago Centro, and Drago Ristorante. Also new on the menu is a special dish from Chef Roy Yamaguchi, innovator of Hawaii-inspired cuisine and James Beard Award winner for "Best Pacific Northwest Chef."
Taste of Kizuna is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and we’d love your support. Be sure to reserve your table while there's still time!
Help Us Reach Our $75,000 Goal!
Can’t be with us in person? You can still make a difference for Kizuna’s biggest fundraiser of the year! Your support will helps us fund our programs well into 2025!
Community News!
Kokoro 2024 Craft Show
Celebrate and shop during the 16th Anniversary of the Kokoro Craft Show at JANM!
This annual craft show is sponsored by the Friends of JANM and features fashion apparel and accessories, jewelry, ceramics, gifts, and more from over fifty vendors. Shoppers who spend $25 or more will receive a 10% discount to local restaurants. No prize drawing this year. Order bentos by October 10
OCO Trunk or Treat
OCO’s ANNUAL TRUNK OR TREAT at Tanaka Farms! Please join us for this year’s Halloween event!
Saturday, October 26
6:30-8:30
This year, we have an option for everyone! Sign up to decorate your trunk or to decorate a table OR just come and enjoy the fun!
Please RSVP and find out more info below and let us know if your family is able to attend.
Haunted Little Tokyo
You do not want to miss the festivities happening in Haunted Little Tokyo this month!
Ghost tours, scavenger hunts, 21+ block parties! Check them all out in the link below.
Emergence: Art from Life
October 8-December 15, 2024
Tuesday-Sunday, 12-4pm
Emergence is open at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center and is among more than 70 exhibitions and programs to be presented as part of PST ART presented by Getty.
Emergence: Art from Life is singular among PST ART exhibitions for its presentation of living biological artworks and projects created in collaboration with a global cohort of synthetic biologists and medical researchers. Visitors will encounter human bones grown from synthetic mother-of-pearl; objects dyed with bioengineered indigo pigment; and living, microscopic human tear glands that cry. These works invite us to consider what it means to be human now: our aspirations, follies, entanglements, and impacts on symbiotic life forms, each other, and the planet.
ExpandLA Youth Listening Sessions
Are you 13-25 years old? Have ideas on how youth centers & programs should look like or help serve YOU? Join one of ExpandLA’s Virtual Youth Listening Sessions to share your thoughts!
Dates: (Zoom)
Thursday, Nov 7th 4:30-6pm
Saturday, Nov 16th 10-11:30am
Make your voice heard and bring your friends! Be a part of youth led change in your community! Plus, you can earn service learning hours & a chance to win raffle prizes!
