PR-2/04

JACS Announces New Trustees for 2004

ThThe Japanese American Community Services of Southern California, Inc. (JACS) announces that they have added three new Board of Trustees for 2004. New Trustees include Eiko Amano, Noelle Ito and Grant Sunoo.

Eiko Amano recently retired after 26 years as a medical technologist/clinical scientist at UCLA Hospital--in order to spend more time as a ceramic artist. Originally from Japan, she is currently a teacher/mentor, training artists and teachers to use the visual and performing arts content standards for California Public Schools for the Music Center Education Division.

Noelle Ito, a Yonsei, currently works for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society as the Special Events Logistics Manager. She is a member of J-town Voice! and volunteers for various non-profit organizations in Little Tokyo.

Grant Sunoo, who is half Korean American and half Japanese American, is a program coordinator at Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP), coordinating LEAP's community leadership development and college internship programs. He also volunteers for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.

“I look forward to working with JACS' multi-generational Board of Trustees and feel honored to be a part of an organization that has helped fund crucial projects in the Asian American community since 1961," said Ito after joining the Board.

Vice President Dean Matsubayashi said, “On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I’d like to wholeheartedly welcome Eiko, Noelle and Grant to the Board. They bring new energy, experience and talent to the Board as we plan for the future of JACS’ giving programs. We are proud to have Board members ranging in age from 20s to 80s.”

For over 40 years, JACS has provided funds to a broad range of community and social service groups serving the Nikkei and Asian Pacific American communities. Currently, JACS provides financial support to emerging groups and projects in the Greater Los Angeles area, with a focus on community service, health and human services, cultural arts and leadership development.

The origins of JACS can be traced back to Shonien, a Los Angeles-based children’s home and day nursery for Japanese immigrants in the early 1900s. After World War II and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans, the Shonien redirected its focus to provide family and community social services, and eventually became the Japanese American Community Services of Southern California, Inc. in 1961.

The Shonien home was sold and proceeds placed in a trust fund. Since then, JACS has provided funds to a broad range of community and social service groups serving the Nikkei and Asian Pacific American communities.

In the past year, JACS has awarded over $12,000 to various organizations including Grateful Crane Ensemble, Little Tokyo Residents Association, Cold Tofu, South Asian Network and Great Leap.

For more information about JACS, call (323) 223-6473, email jacsfund[at]yahoo[dot]com or see the website, www.jacsfund.org.