Matching Campaign to Aid Victims of Japan Earthquakes and Tsunamis

Posted on 16th March 2011 in Uncategorized

On March 11, 2011, the world watched helplessly as part of a nation was washed away. The devastating effects of the earthquake, subsequent tsunami and possible radiation leak disaster will forever be imprinted in our minds. As the people of Japan continue their search for survivors, we would like to convey hope and help them to rebuild their lives.

The Minami Tamaki LLP law firm and Inspirational Opportunities for Youth and Seniors (IOYS), a nonprofit foundation, will be working together to raise $50,000 in the next 30 days for victims of the Northern Japan earthquakes and tsunamis.

DONATE TODAY

100 percent of the proceeds raised will go towards citizen relief efforts in the most affected areas via the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund established by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.

We are reaching out to you – our family, friends and colleagues. Minami Tamaki and IOYS ask that you help us raise $50,000 to help the citizens of Japan. Please reach into your pocket book and make a donation. No amount is too small.

To encourage your support through this campaign, Minami Tamaki and IOYS pledge to match 50 percent of your donation up to a combined $10,000. We believe our combined efforts will make a difference to those who desperately need our assistance and have lost so much.

Click here to donate online or write a check made payable to “JCCCNC” and send to:

Japan Relief Fund
c/o Minami Tamaki LLP
360 Post Street; 8th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108

Donate before April 30, 2011, to ensure your donation qualifies for our match.

If you have any questions please contact LWon@MinamiTamaki.com. Please forward this to all your friends, family and colleagues. Together we can make a difference. Thank you.

INSPIRATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH AND SENIORS
AND MINAMI TAMAKI LLP

Minami Tamaki LLP is a law firm committed to the improvement of our communities, country and world by working with integrity for justice, equality and community every day.

Inspirational Opportunities for Youth and Seniors (IOYS) is a nonprofit foundation formed by Lynda Won-Chung, a Senior Counsel at Minami Tamaki, committed to providing small grants to non-profits servicing seniors and youth.

JCCCNC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in California that raised over $600,000 in 1995 towards citizen relief efforts following the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake that killed over 6,000 people and left over 300,000 people homeless. The donations received helped organize volunteer efforts to get food and water directly to the victims, citizen search efforts, clothing for those that lost their homes, essential supplies for women, children and especially seniors and we helped to feed and rebuild orphanages in Kobe.

 

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Donate to the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund

Posted on 14th March 2011 in Uncategorized

The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) has established a fund to help the victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011.

Donate online via Causes

The largest earthquake to ever hit Japan registered at a 8.9-magnitude and struck at 2:46 pm in northern Japan near the Tohoku region killing hundreds and injuring many more. The death toll is expected to rise as recovery efforts continue.

100% of the donations will go directly towards citizen relief efforts in the most affected areas.

At this time the JCCCNC is only accepting cash donations. Please no relief goods or supplies.

In 1995, the JCCCNC raised over $600,000 towards citizen relief efforts for the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake that killed over 6,000 people and left over 300,000 people homeless.

The funds raised helped organize volunteer efforts to get food and water directly to the victims, citizen search efforts, clothing for the homeless, essential supplies for women, children and especially seniors and helped to feed and rebuild orphanages in Kobe, Japan.

The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) was established as a 501(c) (3) non-profit agency in California in 1973. The JCCCNC serves over 185,000 individuals a year and conducts numerous exchange programs between the United States and Japan. In spring of 2010 the JCCCNC lead a tour to Sendai, Japan.

Donations can also be sent to JCCCNC 1840 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94115 all donations will be acknowledged.

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Mike Honda: Let’s Make Every School as Good as the ‘Good Schools’

Posted on 8th March 2011 in politics

Congressmen Michael Honda (D-CA) and Chaka Fattah (D-PA), the leading Congressional advocates for school funding equity, recently hailed the Department of Education’s appointment of Commissioners who will launch and serve on the Equity and Excellence Commission.

Honda, a former teacher and local school board member who has represented Silicon Valley in California for the past decade, introduced legislation, joined by Fattah, to authorize the Equity Commission. Honda launched the effort to fund the Commission in 2009.

The commission, first proposed and advanced by the two Congressmen in 2009, has been tasked with studying, and recommending solutions to, inequitable school finance systems and their effect on student achievement.

The 28 commissioners appointed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan bring a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and opinions and represent the full political and educational spectrum. They include the leaders of both major teachers’ unions, business leaders, school district officials, civil rights advocates and former Republican Illinois governor Jim Edgar.

Robert Teranishi is one of the Commissioners. An Associate Professor of Higher Education at New York University and Co-Director for the Institute for Globalization and Education, Dr. Teranishi’s research is broadly focused on race, ethnicity, and the stratification of college opportunity. His work has been influential to federal, state, and institution policy related to college access and affordability.

The Equity Commission’s first meeting was on February 22 at the Department of Education in Washington. They will now hold public meetings, town halls and hearings across the nation to allow commissioners to gather information that inform their recommendations. The commission will report to the Secretary of Education, who will share the report with Congress, in May of 2012.

“All our children should have an equal opportunity to achieve prosperity, not just those at the top,” said Congressman Honda. “Closing our achievement gap, however, is not just about those at the bottom. It is about making sure that every working and middle class neighborhood has a world-class school.”

“We have known for years that equal opportunity is a fallacy in our public schools,” continued Honda. “As poverty increases in our schools, our scores steadily decrease.”

Honda said the goal should be simple: “To make every school as good as the schools in our wealthiest communities.”

“This commission comes at a critical time in our fiscal history as a nation. Now, more than ever, we are compelled to use scarce public resources efficiently and effectively,” said Fattah, an innovator and advocate for education reform who proposed the Commission concept at a meeting with the President on Feb. 26, 2009. “We know that there is no more prudent investment in the nation’s growth and prosperity than the education of our young people.”

Fattah, from Philadelphia, praised the work of Equity Commissioner Eric Hanushek, a Hoover Institution Fellow, who calculated that simply increasing the educational attainment of the nation’s lowest performing students would add $72 trillion to GDP, as well as a 2009 McKinsey report that found that the achievement gap has the economic effect of a permanent recession.

“The proof is there: Educational achievement will key our economic recovery,” Fattah said. “This is more than a question of fairness and equity, this is about the nation’s economic future.”

The Equity Commission is charged with collecting data, analyzing issues and obtaining broad public input on strategies for the federal government to increase educational opportunity by improving school funding equity. It will also make recommendations for restructuring school finance systems to achieve equity in resources and further student performance, especially for students at the lower end of the achievement gap.

Download this PDF of an op-ed by Congressman Honda in a recent issue of American Educator magazine.

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