TESTIMONIALS
Messages of hope, and inspiring examples of the power of community support and care.
The focus of the JA Community Foundation during the pandemic has been supporting our grantees and the JA and Asian American communities with Emergency Grants during the unpredictable COVID-19 pandemic.
We’ve awarded three rounds of Emergency Grants, Spring 2020, Summer 2020 and Spring 2021.
Drastic changes to daily living due to the pandemic have been particularity hard for seniors. Because of this, we focused our first round of grants on previous grantee organizations who were providing essential services to seniors.
We would like to share excerpts from some of the thank you letters we have received from these organizations – brief messages of hope, and inspiring examples of the power of community support and care.
The greatest benefit was to be able to implement virtual conferencing, such as Zoom; Skype and FaceTime. We are so lucky to now have the resources to have Zoom church services; virtual birthday parties and even a family reunion that lasted for 3 hours! Mother’s Day was made particularly memorable with our resident moms being able to see their families on the “big screen TV”! One of the residents was so thrilled to see her whole family that she kept asking if she could take our TV back to her apartment so that she could watch it again and again. The training tables are the perfect size for maintaining social distancing for our residents.
– Gale J Nakai, Director, Central California Nikkei Foundation dba Vintage Gardens Assisted Living Community Nikkei Center
Our services at Yu-Ai Kai help seniors maintain their independence, as well as, strive to reach those seniors who would otherwise remain isolated, alone and without help. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of over 3,000 seniors and for promoting the spirit of “KEIRO” in the community.
– Jennifer Masuda, Executive Director,Yu-Ai Kai Japanese American Community Senior Service
Words can hardly express our appreciation for JACF’s generosity and your commitment to support us in providing service to the seniors in our community. While we wish we could help 100’s, we are so grateful to able to make a positive impact on those for whom we can provide some assistance….Even more important than the actual meal, however, was the gesture of remaining connected and the display of caring and concern. In these (seemingly) interminable days of depressing news, fear and self-isolation – receiving a “gift” of food each week will serve as a Tanoshimi – an event to look forward to as a temporary substitute for our lunch gathering at the Center.
– Carolyn Yano, President, Long Beach Japanese Cultural Center
our grants
We have two LOI application periods in 2022. Check the grant calendar for upcoming deadlines and how to apply.