The Santa Monica Nikkei Hall Fund, housed at the Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF), has granted $2 million since 2018 to support 22 nonprofit organizations, six of which continue to host the annual Memorial Day Ireito Ceremony held at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica.
The fund was established at APCF in 2017 after the sale of the Santa Monica Nikkei Hall building to support the organizations in preserving and maintaining the Ireito on behalf of the Santa Monica Nikkei Hall. The Ireito is a 15-foot-high granite memorial monument that was originally erected to honor the Issei who settled in the Bay Cities region of Southern California. Since then, the monument has come to represent all generations of Japanese Americans and especially those who served in the U.S. military.
Additionally, the fund provided grants to local organizations that focus on serving the Asian and Pacific Islander communities as well as programs and services that include physical, mental, and economical health, youth programs, emergency services and leadership development. The fund will continue to support local communities in need until it sunsets.
“With the pandemic these past couple of years, we are glad that through the fund, we were able to provide funding to organizations that specifically provided added care and services to seniors and others in need as the physical and mental health demands of our community changed and increased,” said Chun-Yen Chen, executive director of APCF.
The Santa Monica Nikkei Hall Fund is a “no solicitation” fund. To learn more about the Asian Pacific Community Fund, its programs, services and affiliates, visit www.apcf.org.
Recipients since 2018 include the following:
- ArborSpring Ministries
- Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
- Asian American Christian Counseling Services
- Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program
- Asian Youth Center
- Catalyst San Gabriel Valley
- CAUSE (Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment)
- Center for the Pacific Asian Family
- Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (Senior Food Program)
- Kizuna
- Korean American Family Services (Asian Foster Family Initiative)
- Little Tokyo Service Center (Senior Services and Budokan)
- Herald Christian Health Center
- Olive Crest (Los Angeles)
- Pacific Asian Counseling Services
- ZOE International
Organizations continuing the annual Memorial Day Ireito Ceremony
- Venice Free Methodist Church
- Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple
- Venice Japanese Community Center
- West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple
- West Los Angeles Holiness Church
- West Los Angeles United Methodist Church
About APCF
Established in 1990, APCF is a community-based, nonprofit fund that was created to educate and encourage individuals and companies to support Asian and Pacific Islander communities in need by donating through workplace giving programs as well as other channels. The organization is the only API community-based fund of its kind in Southern California.
Since its founding, APCF has raised and distributed over $5 million in grants to its partner agencies as well as other community organizations. APCF and its 74 network agencies serve 4.9 million people annually with programs and services provided in a total of 47 API languages, in addition to English and Spanish. Programs include childcare/youth programs, affordable housing, counseling and case management, healthcare, job development and training, legal services, senior services, violence prevention, and much more.
For additional information, visit www.apcf.org.