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Contact: Diane Tanaka
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GO FOR BROKE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION AND MICHELOB’S FIRST ANNUAL EVENING OF ALOHA GALA DINNER A SUCCESS

Dinner Featured Hawaii Chef Sam Choy and Southern California’s Local Restaurants, Hawaiian Singer Melveen Leed and Much More!

The Go For Broke Educational Foundation’s Evening of Aloha gala dinner was held, November 9, 2002 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The event’s title sponsor was Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., brewer of the Michelob brand. Featured left to right: Al Gee, Draft Manager of Anheuser-Busch Sales Beach Cities; featured chef, Hawaii’s Sam Choy; David L. Kim, Director, Sales Development and Community Relations, Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; and Christine Sato-Yamazaki, Executive Director, Go For Broke Educational Foundation.

Torrance, Calif. (November 15, 2002) – On an unusual rainy Saturday night (November 9) in Los Angeles, more than 500 people dressed in aloha attire attended the Go For Broke Educational Foundation’s inaugural gala dinner, Evening of Aloha, at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. Sponsored by Michelob, Evening of Aloha brought good food and good fun as Hawaii’s culinary ambassador Sam Choy and local restaurants satiated the appetites of attendees anticipating “ono local grinds.” Assemblymember George Nakano (CA-53), Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry (CD-9), Consul-General of Japan Masaharu Kohno, George Takei, Tamlyn Tomita, and Col. Young O. Kim (Ret) were among the noteworthy guests who mingled with the many Japanese American veterans of World War II, their wives and family, plus the sponsors and friends of the Go For Broke Educational Foundation.

Master of Ceremonies Tiny Tadani, Hawaii music/TV/food critic for Oceanic Cable, kept the audience laughing throughout the program. Both he and the evening’s featured performer, Hawaii’s Country Girl Melveen Leed, flew to Los Angeles especially for this event. Melveen Leed put on a special show for the guests and wowed them with her fabulous vocal performance.

“Evening of Aloha was a tremendous success and Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of the Michelob brand, was extremely honored to sponsor an event that benefits the Go For Broke Educational Foundation and its programs,” said David L. Kim, Director of Sales Development and Community Relations, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. “American history is neither truly American nor totally accurate history without recognizing the contributions of American soldiers of Japanese and Korean descent during WWII and how their heroism paved the way for all Americans of Asian ancestry today. Ensuring that civil liberties today and in the future are never denied because of race makes it imperative that we support programs to educate our youth about the significance of these honorable WWII veterans.”

“Our inaugural gala dinner, Evening of Aloha, was a incredible hit and we truly appreciate the talented Sam Choy, Melveen Leed and Tiny Tadani for traveling to the mainland to participate. The Go For Broke Educational Foundation also thanks all of our supportive sponsors for ensuring the event’s success,” said Christine Sato-Yamazaki, executive director of the Go For Broke Educational Foundation. “Kudos to our spectacular dinner committee, restaurants who participated and all the volunteers that came to help.”

The Go For Broke Educational Foundation would like to thank the following Evening of Aloha sponsors: Title sponsor Michelob; Medal of Honor Sponsors George and Sakaye Aratani, Manabi and Sumi Hirasaki; Distinguished Service Cross sponsors Holiday Inn Torrance, Nissan North America, Union Bank of California, Universal Studios; Silver Star sponsors: American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Fukui Mortuary, Inc., Kenneth M. Kamiya Insurance, King’s Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant, Paradise Restaurants; Bronze sponsors AHTKY Insurance Brokers, LLC, Always Dream Foundation, Bank of America Foundation, Green Hills Memorial Park, Hilton Hotels, Sam Maehara, Assemblymember George Nakano, The Pacific Bridge Companies, SBC Pacific Bell, Southern California Gas Company, Theodore and Gladys Toguchi, Verizon Wireless, UPS; Millennium Club Sponsors Tets and Dorothy Asato, Sam and Teri Fujikawa, Mary Karatsu, Helen Kawagoe, Gary Kuwahara and family, Taro Uchizono; and Purple Heart Sponsors Hoops for Friends, Inc., Martin V. Lee, Mike Okabayashi.

Participating restaurants and food companies include: Asakuma, Bob’s Okazu-ya, Bruddah’s, Cherrystone’s, Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop, Ginger Café, Giumarra Bros., Island Grinds, King’s Hawaiian Restaurant and Bakery, Pacific International Rice Mills, Inc., Paradise Restaurant, Rascals, and Sea Empress. Ace Beverage and Anheuser-Busch Sales Beach Cities provided the Michelob brand beers, including Michelob Lager, Michelob Light and Michelob Ultra Light.

The Go For Broke Educational Foundation institutes educational programs focused on the heroism and history of the Japanese American soldiers of World War II, as well as the Japanese American internment and civil liberties issues raised by those events. Currently the Foundation’s programs include An American Story teacher training workshops and curriculum development, Hanashi: Voice of the Nisei Soldier oral history program, and select media projects. For more information, go to www.goforbroke.org.

In 1989 Japanese American World War II veterans established the 100th/442nd/MIS WWII Memorial Foundation to build the Go For Broke Monument as an eternal tribute to the heroics of the segregated Japanese American units: 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, MIS (Military Intelligence Service) and the many other men and women who served overseas during World War II. The monument is located in downtown Los Angeles at Temple and Alameda streets.

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