LTSC celebrated its 30th anniversary last week (Friday, July 30th) and quite a celebration it was!   About 500 of our friends, supporters, and guests came out to the California Science Center to enjoy the delicious banquet organized by Andy Nakano & Friends and the many sake-tasting offerings by Mutual Trading, and they also enjoyed the fabulous new Eco-Systems exhibit at the museum!

Now that the event is over, I can reflect a bit more about what it all means.  It is hard to truly recognize 30 years of community service in one night.  There have been so many people who have worked so hard and given so much for the goal of "helping people and building community".   On Friday afternoon, a few hours before our event, I sat under a tree in the Noguchi Plaza of the JACCC.  I remembered people who long ago helped LTSC build a strong foundation in its early days, and later others who added their special touch to make the agency grow so that more and more people would be helped.

Photos by Steven Wong

Sansei Legacy and the Budokan of Los Angeles (BoLA) are hosting the Second Annual Sansei Legacy Invitational Bowling Tournament on Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010 from 5-9pm at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.  All proceeds from this charity bowling tournament will benefit the Budokan of Los Angeles, a project of LTSC. JUST ADDED-“New Adult Division”: We have received interest from several adults about participating in the upcoming bowling event. If you would like to enter an adult team, please contact us ASAP to register your team.

For more information about the bowling fundraiser, please contact the Budokan office at (213) 473-1636 or sito@LTSC.org.

As part of the 2nd Annual Sansei Legacy BoLA-thon, there will also be a raffle with many great prizes.  Due to the limited number of tickets sold, you will have a 1 out of 10 chance to win!

Top prizes include: Kobe Bryant signed basketball Lebron James signed framed poster Ron Artest signed Lakers cap Dwight Howard signed all-star jersey Dwayne Wade signed Heat jersey And many more….To see a full list of prizes click here.

Drawing will take place at the event on Sunday, August 15, 2010 at the Suncoast Bowling Center.  Winner need not be present.  Raffle tickets are $20

Make checks payable to Budokan of Los Angeles or LTSC before Monday, August 9, 2010 with raffle stubs (or we can fill one out for you) to be eligible.  Send checks to:

LTSC
c/o BoLA-thon 2010
231 E. 3rd Street, G106
Los Angeles, CA 90013

For additional questions, or to reserve tickets, please call the Budokan office at (213) 473-1636 or email at sito@LTSC.org

Camp Musubi is a Japanese American heritage camp for entering middle school youth hosted by LTSC and the Ties That Bind committee.  The week long camp on August 23-27th will be filled with fun activities that exposes the middle school youth to Japanese American history, heritage and culture.  This year's camp field trip will be to Tanaka Farms in Orange County where campers will get to learn about a Japanese American family owned strawberry farm in addition to the history of farming in the Japanese American Community!

Registration fee is: $225 for the week (Deadline: Aug 13th)

For more information and to download registration forms, please visit to www.campmusubi.org.

The Barbara Bush Foundation announced that it has awarded a $65,000 grant to LTSC to fund the expansion of our Family Literacy program.  LTSC was one of 9 grant recipients chosen from nearly 400 applications.  Since its inception in 1989, the Foundation has awarded over $32 million to more than 758 family literacy programs in all 50 states. In addition to the Family Literacy program housed in the Angelina Apartments in Echo Park, LTSC’s Children and Family Services program includes Grace Iino Child Care Center, Angelina Preschool, and Family Child Care for ages 0-5.  LTSC also operates the Aratani After-School program and Casa Heiwa Angelina Mentoring Program for school-aged children and teenagers.

“We are honored to be a part of this prestigious group of family literacy programs from around the country.  Our goal is to help our families obtain the tools to improve their literacy and engage in their children’s education, and that includes attending English, computer and parenting classes 5 days a week.” said Meliza Roa-Arreola, Family Literacy Manager. 

“People assume because we are based in Little Tokyo our families are Japanese, but over 80% of our program participants are low-income Latino/a immigrants, and they are definitely part of the LTSC family,” said Jennifer Kuida, Co-Director of Children and Family Services.

In making a donation to LTSC, you can:   • Make a donation in memory of a loved one • Make a donation in honor of someone’s birthday or graduation • Make a stock donation • Host a fundraiser to benefit LTSC

Donate Online, over the phone or via traditional mail.
Contact: Mickie Okamoto
MOkamoto@LTSC.org
(213) 473-1613

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