City of Bellevue

CISC has made it to the City of Bellevue's web site!
As part of its efforts to make local government more accessible and welcoming to our immigrant neighbors, the city has translated several of its web pages into Chinese. There is a wealth of information and resources for Chinese residents, who now comprise about 8% of the city population.

Many of the topics refer people to the Bellevue Mini City Hall in Crossroads Mall where we have cultural navigators stationed to serve the Chinese, Spanish and Russian speaking communities. Keep up the good work!

To access the main page, click here.

Sound Steps

Summer officially started on June 20 (though you really couldn't tell around here) and with it started the Kirkland Senior Center's Sound Steps program.

Started in 2003 to encourage seniors to make a commitment to physical activity and fitness, CISC seniors participate each week by walking around downtown Kirkland and Lake Washington.

With encouragement and support from other seniors, even those who thought they could never walk a mile are happily enjoying the exercise and fresh air each week and getting to know their community a little better.

So if they can do it, you should too! Get up and walk for fitness!

Class of 2021

This week, CISC’s Step Ahead Program graduated its second class of preschoolers with great pomp and circumstance – well, they got certificates, anyway.

Eight students completed the year of bilingual Mandarin/English preschool fully prepared for kindergarten.

Starting in September, many of them spoke no English at all but progressed through the year learning all the skills essential for success in school.

Physical health, well-being and motor development; social and emotional development; approaches toward learning; cognition and general knowledge; and language and communication are the five areas of focus of school readiness for this program.

Parents, caregivers and siblings attended the graduation ceremony where students sang a song in Chinese, performed a skit in English, and impressed family and friends alike with their knowledge and maturity.

Way to go class of 2021!

36th Annual Friendship Dinner

Last Saturday's Friendship Dinner and Auction was a huge success. Held at the Grand Hyatt Seattle, we had nearly 400 guests in attendance for this fun event.

This year's focus was on CISC's early learning programs - parent and caregiver classes and training, a bilingual English/Mandarin pre-K program, and informal play and learn groups all around the county, serving Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Hmong, and South Asian families.

Despite these difficult times, people were very generous, donating over $45,000 to help children succeed in school, and their parents get the skills then need to support them at home. In addition, the live and silent auctions raised significant sums for the ongoing operations of CISC.

The lucky winner of the raffle prize ($1,300 in cash) was Lillian Anderson, owner of Massage Envy. She generously donated her prize back to CISC to support the work we do in the community. Thank you Lillian!

Everyone said the food was excellent (jumbo crab cake starter, salad of spring greens, herb crusted chicken with orzo, and a heavenly espresso crème brûlée with chocolate dipped shortbread for dessert. Yum!

A big thanks to all our corporate sponsors who underwrote this event so that all monies rasied at the event could go directly to CISC programs and activities!

Sunshine Garden Seniors in the Lead

Many Chinese seniors around the Puget Sound subscribe to the CISC Elderly Newsletter or read it online. Through this monthly publication, they learn about many community events they would not otherwise know about.

Though some are able to participate with family members or friends, many do not have transportation and cannot go on their own. Thank goodness for Sunshine Garden! CISC staff lead the way and make sure everyone has a good time. Anyone can join the group for a small fee (usually $2) and learn more about their community with friends new and old.

Here they are at recent visits to the Maritime Festival on the Seattle Waterfront, and the 60th Anniversary of the Armed Forces Festival in Bremerton.

Caregiving at Life's End

CISC recently completed a monthlong series of workshops on caring for loved ones at the end of life. This was done in conjunction with Providence Hospice of Seattle.

Despite the taboo of discussing death and dying in our culture, participants received valuable information and resources in their native dialects on this difficult topic.

Having this information better prepares us all for the challenge of dealing with the death of our loved ones.

Tandoori Chicken

On Friday, CISC volunteer Christine Ho came to Sunshine Garden to demonstrate traditional Indian cuisine – tandoori chicken, rice, and raita. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Christine shares her special talents every month Sunshine Garden seniors.

Now you too can join in on the fun! Christine will be donating a cooking class to CISC’s Friendship Dinner & Auction at the Grand Hyatt on June 7. Your chance to learn from one of the best!

Chinese Paper Cutting

The Bellevue Arts Museum will be hosting Beijing University’s Yao Bingyue on Tuesday, May 27 for a hands-on demonstration of traditional Chinese paper cutting. A researcher in early childhood development, this event is geared for children as well as adults. For more information, contact the museum at 425-890-3184.

Examples of this unique and wonderful craft (also known as 窗花or window flowers) will also be available at CISC’s Friendship Dinner & Auction on June 7 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle.

Northwest Chinese School

Northwest Chinese School 西北中文學校 will be holding a fundraising event this Saturday to benefit victims of this week’s earthquake in China.

NWCS Kirkland campus (at Lake Washington Technical College, 11605 132nd Ave NE) will hold seminars on Health Life, Luxury Life and Model Mother’s Life Story from 10:00 to 2:00 as part of the fund raising activities. Seminar speakers have also pledged to make donations.

Donations can be made in person during the fundraising event,

or by sending a check to Northwest Chinese School, Attn: Sichuan Province Relief Fund, 515 116th Ave NE, Ste 228, Bellevue, WA 98004,

or by wire transfer through Cathay Bank, Payee: NWCS (Sichuan Province Relief Fund), Acct #: 83001530.

For details and more information, please contact Northwest Chinese School directly: http://www.nwchinese.org/

China Earthquake

As more and more news comes out of China, the death toll rises. For those survivors in the area, there is urgent need for basic necessities such as food, water and shelter.

CISC has received a number of inquiries from people who want to help. Here are 3 ways:

• Through World Vision. You can donate online at http://www.worldvision.org/ Right at the top of their home page there’s a box that says “Massive Earthquake Rocks China”. Click on the Donate to Help Survivors link.
  
  
• Through the Chinese Red Cross Society. From their website http://202.108.59.10/english/index.htmit appears that you can’t donate online, but you can send a check to:
  
  China CITIC Bank, Beijing
  Jiuxianqiao Sub-Branch
  C&W Tower. No.14
  Jiuxianqiao Street
  Chaoyang District
  Beijing, China 100016
  
  Account NO.:7112111482600000209
  Swift Code：CIBKCNBJ100
  
  They request your address and phone number too.
  


• Through the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation. Checks, cash or wire transfers are accepted at Cathay Bank and will be deposited into a special account #01-130-005. Cathay Bank has 3 branches in the Seattle area: Chinatown/ID, Kent, and Bellevue. For contact information, go to http://www.cathaybank.com/ and click on locations at the top.

Thank you for your caring and concern. With your help, we hope to minimize the pain and suffering as much as possible.

BCC Comes to CISC

Today a group of students from Bellevue Community College’s program in Digital Video Production came to CISC to begin filming a documentary on the history of the organization.
Jason Lau, initiator of this project, felt strongly that he wanted to tell the story of CISC, the people behind it, and the impact it has had on the community these last 36 years.

Today’s filming included King Lee, Lily Woo, and Daphne Tang, long time supporters for over 30 years. Other interviews will feature key staff and a special appearance by Ron Chew, former Executive Director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, speaking on the history of Chinese in Seattle.

We can’t to see the completed product. We plan to post it on the CISC website later this summer!

Pratt Fine Arts Center

Pratt Fine Arts Center's Youth Art Works program will exhibit drawings, painting, and glass art by students from Washington Middle School and Chinese Information and Service Center at the Seattle Public Library's Douglass-Truth Branch from May 5 to May 29.

This one example is from Connie, a participant in CISC's after school youth program. Come and see all the art at 2300 E Yesler Way (@ 23rd)!

May is API Heritage Month

Once again, CISC is a proud sponsor of the Asian Pacific Directors Coalition's Asian Pacific Heritage Month Celebration which was held at Seattle Center yesterday. As chair of the APDC, CISC Executive Director welcomed the crowd and kicked off the event.

Highlighting the great diversity within the API community, this event, now in its sixth year, featured back to back performances from community groups such as the Northern Laotian Community Association, Filipino Youth Activities Drill Team, Apna Bangre Crew, and many, many more!

The API themed art contest for middle and high school students received over 60 entries this year and top entries were on display for the public to enjoy.

One of the highlights of the day was a performance by the grÖÖvaholix, an all female, Asian American dance troupe out of LA. For their latest videos, go to YouTube and search on keyword: groovaholix

This Just In...

In the Committee of 100's most recent newsletter (Spring 2008), they cited an interesting study looking at personal goals of the American and Chinese general public.The top response for both groups was "to have a happy family". But while 72% of Americans chose this option, only 54% of Chinese did.

15% of Americans said that they wanted "to work on behalf of society," while only 10% of Chinese respondants cited this as a goal.

Perhaps most interestingly, 42% of Chinese chose "to get rich" as a personal goal in life, while only 8% of Americans did so!

The full article has not been posted on line yet, you can see the numbers we took from the article here. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

For more information on the Committee of 100, or to check to see if the Spring newsletter has been posted online, click here.

Earth Day 2008

Today is Earth Day, but CISC celebrated last Saturday by putting together another team to participate in the annual ID Spring Clean Up. This year there were over 450 participants who picked up trash, painted over graffiti, and cleared out weeds and other debris.

Despite chilly weather that sometimes included pounding rain and even hail, our team of staff, board, and volunteers put their backs into it and helped to make our neighborhood just a little bit cleaner and nicer for all of us who work, shop and live here.

Check out this picture of Executive Director, Alaric Bien with the mandible of a ...

thing!

36th Annual Friendship Dinner & Auction

It's that time of year again! Time for CISC's annual Friendship Dinner and Auction.

As you can see, we are busily preparing for the big event. Sunshine Garden Seniors are shown here helping to assemble the invitations. Look for yours in the mail later this week.

And don't forget to mark Saturday, June 7 down on your calendar. It's at the Grand Hyatt this year and promises to be a lot of fun. This year we focus on CISC's early learning activities, Play & Learn groups, bilingual pre-K, early literacy and parenting/caregiver training.

For more information, please contact Kevin Chan at kevinc@cisc-seattle.org or 206-624-5633 x 4117. See you on the 7^th!

Legal Clinics Resume at CISC

Responding to community demand, CISC has been working hard for the last several months to resume our legal clinics after Seattle University decided to shift its focus.

We are pleased to announce that the Asian Bar Association of Washington and UW School of Law students have stepped up and begun providing legal workshops for our community on a regular basis. The first one was last Tuesday and focused on (what else?) taxes!

Other workshops will feature speakers on employment law, tenant rights, small claims court and much more. We are so grateful for this partnership with the ABAW and UW School of Law and all the dedicated volunteers who help to make this vital service happen!

Compassion in Seattle

This past weekend, the Dalai Lama was in town talking about compassion. The 5 day event was sponsored by the Seeds of Compassion, a group focused on nurturing and empowering children, families and communities to be compassionate members of society.

One of the key messages from the event was the role of compassion in raising our children. Without instilling social and emotional learning into families, caregivers and schools, our children have not have the all the tools necessary to function and succeed in their community, in society, and in life.

At CISC, we try to weave compassion into all that we do. With our early learning programs, caregiver trainings, youth activities, and more. We know that research has shown the positive beneficial effects of practicing compassion on physical, mental and spiritual health. We know that children cannot only focus on academics, but must also be nurtured in the social and emotional arenas.

Our hope is that all adults who touch the lives of children will have and use the tools to foster kinder and more compassionate children, communities, and society.

So think about it. What have you done today?

Self Defense and Personal Safety

In our continued efforts to meet emerging community needs, CISC last Thursday held a second workshop on self defense and personal safety for our community members.

This is part of the effort we are taking along with the Seattle Police Department and other community groups in response to the ongoing attacks on Asian American women on Beacon Hill.

This last workshop also offered personal safety alarms that can be attached to your keychain for a fast and easy way to alert all those in the vicinity of danger. These alarms also come with a small but powerful flashlight which is also very useful on a day to day basis.

For more information about personal safety or to request an alarm, which we sell at cost ($10), please call CISC Crime Victims Advocate Alan Lai at 206-624-5633 x 4111.

County Budget

Don't know if you caught the article in the Times on Wednesday, but King County is looking at budget of deficit of $20 million this year, and a whopping $60 million next year. Budget Director Bob Cowan's suggestion for addressing this problem was to "phase out" of certain "lines of business" (all health and human services) by 2011.

This so incensed those of us in the human services community who have been working for the past five years with county officials and staff to try to find solutions to this funding crisis.

It is nothing new, but yet again we are confronted with this problem that will not affect "lines of business", but real people like you and me, our families, friends, and neighbors.

For some community opinions, (including our Executive Director's personal viewpoint) see today's Time's opinion page. Or click here.