Kimochi Spirit Awards to Honor Five Individuals
Kimochi, Inc.’s Spirit Awards will be held Sunday, May 16, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, 1881 Post Street in San Francisco’s Japantown. The 2010 “Spirit Awards” will honor five individuals for their community spirit, their longevity and their continued, heartfelt ‘kimochi.’
Two of the Spirit Awardees are centenarians: Yukiko Alice Hamai, 101 years old, and Harusue Ogawa, 100 years old. Over their lifetimes they have witnessed and experienced life-changing historic events and the Spirit Award celebrates their strength of spirit.
Also being honored are retired criminologist, Shoji Horikoshi, who serves as a long-time Kimochi board member and past board chairman; Linda Ishii, much beloved Kimochi Home Administrator; and Robert H. Otsuka, executive vice president and general manager of California Flower Market, Inc., who has continuously and generously supported Kimochi.
The Spirit Awards serves as one of the anchors of Kimochi’s fund-raising efforts. In 2009, Kimochi underwent a $100,000 city-funding budget cut and the organization made hard adjustments to absorb the deficit while protecting the quality of programs and services for our seniors. That most recent budget cut is testament to the increasingly tentative and unreliable nature of government funding -- and Kimochi’s long abiding appreciation of our donors, volunteers and supporters.
The program emcee is Benh Nakajo, Kimochi Board Member. Entertainment will be provided by Mark Izu and Brenda Wong Aoki. Brenda and Mark began creating work together in 1979. Brenda is one of the nation’s foremost solo performance artists. Mark is an award-winning Japanese American composer and jazz musician.
The fundraiser is co-chaired by Paul Chin, vice president, Kimochi Board of Directors, and Jane Yura, vice president, Regulation and Rates, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, and Kimochi Board Member. Spirit Award sponsors are California Pacific Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, Pacific Gas & Electric, Sundance Cinemas and Union Bank.
Admission is free and the event will include light refreshments. A raffle drawing will be held, the grand prize is two round trip tickets to Japan, courtesy of Japan Airlines.
For more information, please contact Sakura Suzuki at (415) 931-2294 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
