As a board member of ACC, I could not be more delighted to also be a volunteer for its Big Day of Giving. Organized by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, the Big Day of Giving helps nonprofits throughout the Sacramento region raise money for their respective causes. This year, they collectively raised more than $13M. ACC raised $308,000, placing #3 among the 700 organizations that participated.
This year, ACC organized five events leading up to the Big Day of Giving on May 5. The first event was an afternoon of uplifting and informative talks for family caregivers. The Big Day of Caring was livestreamed from ACC Senior Services on April 7, 2022. George Connor, guitarist/singer/songwriter and member of Asian Pair and the Guitar Ensemble, opened and closed the Big Day of Caring with his excellent singing. David Troxel, co-author of the book Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer’s Care, was one of the guest lecturers who provided information on memory care. Diane Kidwell of New Leaf Senior Transitions shared tips for decluttering and downsizing your home. Paula Hayashi, Realtor and Senior Real Estate Specialist with Coldwell Banker, discussed selling your home, and Julia Interrante talked about creating meaningful experiences during end-of-life. ACC’s own Jeri Shikuma, Soojin Yoo and Virginia Wieneke provided information about services that can help with caring for seniors, and Yesenia Jones discussed transitioning to long-term care.
The Big Day of Pickleball Tournament was held and livestreamed on April 15, 2022. Information was provided on the Pickleball Club, which started in 2015, and a lot of friendly competition and laughter were abundant that day. Mike Lee and Jan Goto served as the Masters of Ceremonies for the tournament and club leaders, Sunny Jung, Jeannie Fong, and Gary Berg, were the stalwart volunteers that helped to put the tournament together.
Watch full recording of ACC’s Big Day of Giving Telethon
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Savory smells permeated ACC’s Administrative Campus on April 21, 2022, when ACC livestreamed the Big Day of Cooking. Well-known Sacramento chefs provided instruction on cooking some of their favorite dishes. Lana Fong Chong demonstrated the art of wrapping joong using a wooden mold, which was designed by her father-in-law Alvin. The wooden joong molds were made by Peter Dileanis. (Joong is sticky rice, Chinese sausage, pork belly, peanuts, and salted egg yolks wrapped in bamboo leaves.) Lana also recognized Oto’s Marketplace for their generous support of ACC and for their donation of the rice for the cooking demonstration.
Raeselle Lourdes, owner of Ube Café, demonstrated the art of making Ube white chocolate chip brownies. (Ube is a purple yam typically used in Filipino cuisine.) Sou Saelee showed how easy it was to make a colorful and delicious Thai Papaya Salad. Billy Ngo, the owner of Kru, demonstrated the technique for breaking down the loin of a tuna and was appreciative of the donations from Sunh Fish and Oto’s Marketplace for his cooking demonstration. Award-winning chef David SooHoo demonstrated his techniques for making Peking Duck and provided his insights about the connection of cultural heritage to food. He also sat for an interview with culinary historian Maryellen Burns, who is also a regular ACC presenter. ACC’s own Soojin Yoo showed how easy it was to make Korean barbecue and Suleka Sun-Lindley, owner of Thai Basil Restaurant and Veg Café & Bar, demonstrated the techniques for making a delicious curry noodle salad.
The 15th Annual Golf Tournament became the Big Day of Golf, which was held at Teal Bend on April 27, 2022. Chaired by Don Morishita and Holly Fong Korach, the event sold out weeks before, with 160 golfers participating. Golfers received commemorative jackets and were treated to a burrito breakfast provided by ACC’s President and CEO Darrick Lam. Their meal included spam musubi from L&L Hawaiian BBQ and somen prepared by Lynn Kurahara and her team. The Hole-in-One prize was donated by William Yee, Winston Ashizawa, and Holly Fong Korach and John Korach. Since there was no Hole-in-One winner, the money was donated to ACC.
The main Big Day of Giving event was our two-day telethon held on May 4th and 5th. Emcees Jean Shiomoto, Tim Corcoran, Jeri Shikuma, Scott Okamoto, and Dani Lee were vivacious, fun, and as popular as the acts they introduced. New acts this year included the Remix Barbershop Quarter (the youngest member is 81), Ho’opili Hawaiian Band with Carla Fontanilla, Larry Lew and the Jazz Crew, Yesenia Jones, Patty Wood, and Dick Mazon. Returning acts included Merv Maruyama, Maeley Tom, the Gracious Ladies O Kehaula’i Hula, ACC Pocket Pickers, ACC Folk Guitar Club, and Asian Pair.
The theme of the telethon was Compassion. Just about every performer and presenter told a story about a family member or about their journey as a caregiver, and how compassion is ingrained into ACC’s culture. High schoolers Andrew Louie and Zach Gee gave moving testimonies on why they volunteer at ACC. Tamara Kario, Soojin Yoo, and Virginia Wieneke told stories about the exceptional ACC employees who serve the community with purpose and passion. The students who performed in Franklin High School’s Vocal Ensemble spoke about living with their grandparents and why it’s important to support older adults in their remaining years.
The telethon paid tribute to Lonnie Wong on his retirement from 50 years in journalism, 41 of those years at Fox40 News. Lonnie emceed a 30-minute segment of the telethon with co-host Scott Okamoto. Nilda Valmores, the Executive Director of My Sister’s house, was also honored. She is stepping down after 18 years of service and turning the reins over to Yen Marshall, formerly an executive of AT&T and a well-known leader in Sacramento’s nonprofit community. Television personality Tina Macuha joined Nilda in a touching performance of For Good from the musical Wicked. Lonnie and Nilda were presented with a special edition of the ACC News with their pictures and tributes from friends in the ACC community.
ACC produced nine hours of livestreamed programming that required months of planning and preparation. Members of the Big Day of Giving workgroup, co-chaired by Jean Shiomoto and Titus Toyama, divided and conquered the heavy lifting along with Ted Fong, the executive producer of the telethon. This included researching and producing each show segment, scriptwriting, emceeing, the phone bank, front door donor collection/performer check-in, IT support, video production, volunteer management, marketing, donor relations, set design, camera operations, audio engineering, and even the hospitality service (food!) for the people working the telethon, performers, and presenters. Eighty percent of the show was live, supplemented with more than 25 pre-recorded segments. One of them was the epic “We Will Survive” music video produced by Perfecto Bravo and Ted Fong that featured ACC staff and volunteers dancing and singing.
Donations for the Big Day of Giving started in early April and peaked on the second day of the telethon, which opened with Roger and Florence Fong calling into the show with a $50,000 donation! There were 600 donors, with 83 donating over $500 and 77 new donors.
A big THANK YOU to all our donors, volunteers, performers, and presenters who made this year’s Big Day of Giving the biggest ever.
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