Spring Campaign! Spring Campaign!

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]’ve been a member of the JACL for more than 25 years and have found everyone in the organization to be friendly and welcoming, even though I’m not of Japanese ancestry. I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse group of JACL members and supporters from across the country. The tool most often employed when discussing membership is the Pacific Citizen newspaper.

The P.C. gets the word out on issues important to the JACL and the AAPI community. In many cases, it is the only source of news about our small, often isolated and marginalized, communities.

We need the P.C. to get the word out to our friends and families about issues that are important to us and cannot be found in any other news source. A perfect example of this is the recent proposed cut in funding for the Japanese American Confinements Sites grants program by the current Trump administration.

Regarding this issue, JACL National released the following:

“JACL encourages continued advocacy for the continuation of funding for the Japanese American Confinements Sites Grant program (JACS) in FY2019. With a bipartisan letter from the House of Representatives, we now look to the Senate for support.

JACL staff has been active on Capitol Hill, meeting with senate staff to explain the benefits of the program. We hope to obtain the same broad bi-partisan support in the Senate that we did in the House.

Now, we ask that you contact your senators to support continued JACS funding! Ask your senators to join Sen. Schatz (HI) in supporting JACS funding in FY2019 by signing on to this letter.

As of today, eight senators have agreed to sign on in support of JACS funding:

• Sen. Gardner (Colo.)
• Sen. Hirono (Hawaii)
• Sen. Feinstein (Calif.)
• Sen. Harris (Calif.)
• Sen. Merkley (Ore.)
• Sen. Duckworth (Ill.)
• Sen. Wyden (Ore.)
• Sen. Cantwell (Wash.)

Deadline for senators to co-sign is April 25.

I’d like to also provide an update on the P.C. hard-copy surcharge. Over 2,000 members have paid to receive the printed edition of the P.C., resulting in more than $36,600 in additional revenue, which is very helpful for both the P.C. and JACL. However, we still need Spring Campaign donations more than ever! With rising costs to produce the paper, your funds go directly toward paying for these expenses and the newspaper’s daily operations costs. It’s vital that the P.C. continue onward as it has since 1929. It’s our direct link to the past and a future that needs to know our history!

Our “thanks” to the hard-working P.C. staff — Allison, Susan, George and Eva — who create a fine newspaper on a very slim budget. Thank you also to P.C. Editorial Board Chair Gil Asakawa and all P.C. Editorial board members representing their districts.

Now is the time to reach into your pocket and send a generous donation to the P.C.

Another way to support the P.C. is with your purchases from Amazon.com. This is how: When you log on to PacificCitizen.org, you will see an Amazon logo on the left-hand side of the page.

By clicking on the Amazon button, a “cookie” is placed on your computer for 24 hours to assign the cash bonus from your purchase to the Pacific Citizen. Then, you can proceed as usual with your purchase. This is an excellent and easy way to support both the P.C. and JACL financially!

Sincerely,

Jim Duff, P.C. Editorial Board Member, NCWNP