Livestream Web-a-thon to feature the best of the ‘Nichi Bei Café,’ staff and board, and more

The public is invited to join in on the sixth annual Nichi Bei Day of Giving Web-a-thon on Monday, Sept. 5, from 3 to 6 p.m., to benefit the Nichi Bei Foundation and its cultural programs.

The first $50,000 raised will be matched by a generous $50,000 donation from The Craig Foundation.

The public is invited to build their own fundraising page, or create a fundraising team, perhaps in memory of a loved one.

The live program will feature:
• Live raffles for donors, including one-year subscriptions to MasterClass.com, a $180 value
• The best of the “Nichi Bei Café”
• The introduction of the Nichi Bei Legacy Society, a planned giving program
• Live fundraising updates
• Upcoming events and programs

Thanks to such donations, the Nichi Bei Foundation can:
• Continue to support our community’s pandemic recovery
• Maintain and expand staff capacity for our nonprofit organization
• Create reserve funding for unexpected needs
• Help the foundation build for the future

“This unexpected coronavirus pandemic has surely changed the world, and we are certainly not immune to the dire economic effects of the COVID-19 virus,” said a statement from the Nichi Bei Foundation. “But instead of retreating during the pandemic, the Nichi Bei Weekly has expanded our pages to better serve the community through new features — including cooking, origami and Japanese language lessons — and the publication of our most ambitious and popular publication yet, ‘Nikkei Connections: Japanese American Community Resource Guide.’”

“Although our dedicated staff has for the most part been working remotely since March 2020, we have nonetheless witnessed a prolific amount of expanded coverage,” the statement said. “And to further serve the community, this past February we launched the ‘Nichi Bei Café,’ a monthly livestream program that brings our stories to life in video format, while incorporating origami lessons by Linda Mihara of Paper Tree, Japanese cooking by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook and cocktail lessons by The Gochiso Gourmet Ryan Tatsumoto.”

An innovative new addition to the Nichi Bei lineup, the “Nichi Bei Café” is funded by a generous grant from The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation.

Special Thank-You Gifts for Donors
Special thank-you gifts will be provided for those who contribute at certain levels:

• Donate $100 or more receive a free one-year Digital Edition subscription to the Nichi Bei Weekly
• Donate $250 to $499 and receive a free one-year Digital Edition subscription to the Nichi Bei Weekly plus a special adjustable Tofuro face mask in collaboration with Makimino
• Donate $500 to $999 and receive a free one-year Premium Edition subscription (Print and Digital Editions) to the Nichi Bei Weekly plus Soy and Tofu Festival tote bag
• Donate $1,000 or more and receive a free two-year Premium Edition subscription (Print and Digital Editions) to the Nichi Bei Weekly plus special adjustable Tofuro face mask in collaboration with Makimino in addition to a Soy and Tofu Festival tote bag
The Nichi Bei Foundation is an educational and charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping the Japanese American community connected, informed and empowered — primarily through a community newspaper (Nichi Bei Weekly) and Website (www.nichibei.org), as well as educational programs.
In addition to publishing 28 bi-weekly publications a year — including the Japanese Culture and Cherry Blossom Festivals Guide, the Obon and Summer Festivals Guide, and San Francisco Japantown Map and Directory — the Nichi Bei Foundation produces a number of meaningful annual educational programs such as:
• Films of Remembrance, a showcase of films dedicated to educating the public about the wartime forced relocation and incarceration of the Japanese American community, which has been presented in San Francisco and San Jose Japantowns, as well as Sacramento and New York City;
• Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage, a community pilgrimage to the former Angel Island Immigration Station designed to honor the community’s immigrant pioneers, reconnect to this forgotten history and conduct family history research;
• Wakamatsu Pilgrimage, to the former Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, the first sizable settlement of Japanese in America;
• “A Remembrance for Peace: Commemorating Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” a virtual livestream remembrance to remember the atomic bombings.

More information and contributions can be made at www.nichibei.org/give2nichibei.