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Little
Tokyo Service Center News - May 2008
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| An Office With a Great View by Bill Watanabe |
A Japanese proverb: Be pure in mind, body and courage
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My father-in-law is about 93 years old and a couple of years ago he gave me a hand-written book about his family history. In this narrative, he described an event that took place about 100 years ago, at which his mother, when she was a bride-to-be, received a beautifully-crafted Japanese short sword from her brother. She was getting married and leaving the family and her brother wanted to give a gift with special meaning. The sword was meant to symbolize protection for her, and accompanying the sword was another form of protection - a calligraphed proverb which said to "Be pure in mind, body and courage". |
The sword can protect us from external threats, and the proverb protects us from internal threats. So often, we are concerned about external threats, but in fact, it is the internal threats that can hurt us the most.
This is a tremendous reminder for all of us and for agencies like LTSC. We may face all kinds of external threats - funding cuts, competition or mistreatment by others, etc. But, at the same time, we should not forget our internal protections - to seek always to be pure in mind, body and courage. |
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| Did You Know? |
You can keep connected with LTSC online. LTSC now has a Facebook group. Search for us, add yourself, and leave a comment! And did you also know that LTSC is on MySpace? Add us as a friend and stay up-to-date! |
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| La Vida Sake: Participate in our Opportunity Drawing and Win Airline Tickets |
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Little Tokyo Service Center presents
“LA VIDA SAKE”
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Petersen Automotive Museum
(Wilshire & Fairfax)
6pm - 7pm, VIP Reception
7pm - 10pm, General Admission
Enjoy a unique evening of sake and hors d'oeuvres as you cruise the "La Vida Lowrider" exhibit. Sake experts will be on hand to provide education on sake and food pairings.
Ticket Prices
$60 General Admission
$100 VIP - SOLD OUT
Sponsorships available from $1,000 Bronze Level to $25,000 Title Level. For more information visit www.LTSC.org/sake or call Jennifer at 213-473-1615. |
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Opportunity Drawing
Participate for a chance to win 2 Business Class Tickets from LAX to anywhere American Airlines travels in Europe, excluding Italy and Spain. Drawing to be held on Thursday, May 22, 2008 at the event. Donation: $3 for one ticket; $20 for eight tickets. Winners need not be present to win. Contact Marc at mloresto@ltsc.org or (213) 473-1620 to get your tickets today! |
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| Shop Spicy Brown and Support the Rec Center |
Shop online at Spicy Brown and support the Rec Center! During the month of May, the kind owners of Spicy Brown are once again donating a portion of the proceeds to the Rec Center. You can also catch Spicy Brown in person at their booth during San Tai San and Little Tokyo Fun Fest on May 17-18.
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Check out Spicy Brown's fun fashions and shop online today! |
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| Not Without Hope: This Month's Client Story |
Last month, LTSC and Thai Community Development Center celebrated the grand opening of Palm Village Senior Apartments. Palm Village is more than just 60 units of affordable senior housing. For the seniors living there, it offers a better quality of life and for 65-year-old resident Van Chai, it’s truly a vast improvement.
“It was depressing living at my other apartment,” said Chai. “My room was the size of a bathroom, and I had to share a kitchen and bathroom with other people in the building. It was so noisy I had to use earplugs to go to bed.” Now Chai has his own bathroom and kitchen and a much larger space in his one bedroom apartment.
What he likes most about living at Palm Village is having privacy. “It’s quiet and I can read books, I can sleep longer and I’m able to function better. I have my own bathroom that I don’t have to share with anyone.” For many seniors like Chai, being able to live independently is important.
Funders, supporters, and community members participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Palm Village Senior Apartments.
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Chai now lives five minutes away from the Wat Thai Temple, the largest Buddhist Thai temple outside of Thailand where he volunteers every week. “I like that I stay by my community,” says Chai.
Chai needed help – help to live his life the way he wanted. Fortunately for him and many others, they found it at Palm Village. There is still a lack of affordable senior housing for those that live on fixed incomes like Chai but Palm Village is a step in the right direction, a direction hopefully more developers will take into consideration. |
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| Citi Foundation Helps Build Affordable Housing |
| Citi Foundation has awarded LTSC a grant to support its work with the Asian Pacific Islander Affordable Housing Collaborative. The Collaborative helps organizations build multifamily affordable housing projects that serve their communities and involves the organization in the building process to increase the capacity of the organization to engage in future housing development.
With this generous support, LTSC will continue its work on an affordable housing project with its partner the Pilipino Worker's Center. This project is a 100% affordable, multifamily housing community in the Historic Filipinotown community of Los Angeles. When completed the project will provide housing to very low-income families, have residential community rooms and office space for the Pilipino Worker's Center.
LTSC and the Asian Pacific Islander Housing Collaborative wish to thank Citi Foundation for its continued support.
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| Ways to Help LTSC |
Get to know us at www.LTSC.org or contact us.
Donate online, over the phone or via traditional mail.
Donate your unwanted car. We pick up all vehicles & handle the paperwork.
Sakura Lee ~ slee@LTSC.org ~ (213) 473-1613
231 E. Third St. G-106 Los Angeles, CA 90013
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