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Barbara Watanabe
808-585-8484
barbaraw@goforbroke.org
Go For Broke National Education Center Secures $4 Million from Congress
Funds will help build Education Center in Downtown Los Angeles
(TORRANCE, CA – Oct. 3, 2008) – The United States Congress has approved $4 million toward building the Go For Broke National Education Center in the Little Tokyo area of Downtown Los Angeles at Temple and Alameda Streets. The new building will be headquarters for the Go For Broke National Education Center and stand adjacent to the Go For Broke Monument that the organization unveiled in 1999.
"The Go For Broke National Education Center is thrilled to receive this funding," said Christine Sato-Yamazaki, president and chief executive officer of the National Education Center. "It takes us closer to our vision to build an Education Center where we can offer teacher training and educational programming that will keep the legacy of the Japanese American World War II veterans alive. We are deeply grateful to Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, Congressman Adam Schiff, Senator Daniel Akaka and more congressional leaders who embody the go for broke spirit and made this funding a reality."
The funding was part of the Fiscal Year 2009 appropriations measure (HR 2638) passed by the United States House of Representatives on Sept. 24, approved by the U.S. Senate on Sept. 27 and signed by President George W. Bush on Sept. 30, 2008. The act funds needed initiatives, government services, security-related requirements, veterans' programs, troop support, the Go For Broke National Education Center and countless other critical measures.
"I am proud to be an advocate in support of such an exciting project," said Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, who serves on the Appropriations Committee and represents Downtown. "The Go For Broke National Education Center will be a valuable resource for current and future generations of residents and visitors to Los Angeles. Through interactive exhibits that will include oral histories and video footage, the center will provide valuable first-hand insight into the heroic sacrifices of Japanese American WWII veterans on behalf of our country."
The new Education Center will feature an innovative interactive exhibit built around videotaped oral histories from men and women of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and other units that operated overseas during World War II. It will also be a center for teacher training and curriculum programming on the Nisei Veterans that provides these services nationwide and is equipped to collaborate with communities in every state to ensure that this story is taught in schools.
"The Go For Broke National Education Center will ensure that these servicemen are never forgotten," said Congressman Adam Schiff (CA-29). "It will immortalize their bravery and patriotism and continue to teach future generations their great story."
The new Go For Broke National Education Center has been conceived as a two-story, 14,999-sq.-ft. building that is in preliminary design phases now. The National Education Center is working hand-in-hand with the City of Los Angeles to finalize plans and details, but still has a lot of work to do.
The organization has created the largest oral history archive of its kind though its ongoing Hanashi Oral History Program, in addition to developing educational curricula for schools in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Through all of its programming, the National Education Center provides leadership to preserve and give future generations lessons about loyalty, personal honor, courage, service to country, strength and determination, all brought to life through the experiences of World War II American veterans of Japanese ancestry.
Go For Broke National Education Center membership and information about its programs are both available at www.goforbroke.org.
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