PASADENA — For the past 55 years, the city of Mishima in Shizuoka Prefecture has been the sister city of Pasadena. Last year, with permission from Mishima, Pasadena began its fundraising efforts for disaster relief in Japan.
The Pasadena Sister Cities Committee organized and held a disaster relief concert in May 2011 for tsunami victims. Through the concert and other fundraising efforts, the committee was able to raise $10,000.
This year, the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee received $11,350 in grant money from Kaiser Permanente for Japan disaster relief. The committee was selected from more than 100 applicants requesting grant money. To date, the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee has either raised money or received grants totaling over $20,000 for disaster relief.
As a Pasadena Sister Cities Committee member and chair of the Pasadena Japanese Sister Cities Committee, Kiyoe Suzuki presented the relief money check on April 23 to Mayor Hiroshi Kameyama of Ishinomaki City with hopes that the money would help the rebuilding efforts.
Suzuki personally presented the check on behalf of the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee to show her appreciation to all of the committee members and local community volunteers who raised and supported the relief efforts. Kameyama stated that he was deeply thankful for everyone involved with raising the funds, especially the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee members and the community.