Social media and social capital

February marks the 10^th anniversary of Facebook. These ten years have revolutionized the way we communicate, organize, fundraise, advertise, network, and relate to one another. Words like “like,” “share,” “tag,” “wall,” and most of all “friend” have taken on new meanings. Read more at Philanthropy Daily.

Speech on the House Floor for Day of Remembrance

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the resolution.

I represent the Puyallup Valley, a special place with extraordinary people. Japanese families immigrated to our valley with its rich soil more than a century ago to start raspberry and strawberry farms along the Puyallup River, while others started small businesses in Fife. They were important contributors to the life of the community.

And then, seventy-two years ago this spring, everything changed.

Men and women of Japanese descent from Seattle and the Puyallup Valley were ordered to report to the Puyallup City Hall between May 14 and 16, 1942 to register for placement in an internment camp at the Puyallup Fairgrounds.

At Puyallup High School, an all-school assembly was held that spring to say goodbye to Japanese-American students who were to be interned in the Puyallup Fairgrounds.

Across the river at Fife High School, the departure forever changed that school. The late Bob Mizukami once told me that half of the baseball team disappeared.

The pain of leaving home was unspeakably deep, the pain of being forced from a place they loved. Mr. Speaker, may I read a quote from Tadako Tamura, secretary of the Puyallup Valley Japanese-American Citizens’ League? He wrote this to the Tacoma News Tribune. “The soil we worked, the soil our parents worked so conscientiously—it has become too much a part of us to leave so easily.”

Families could bring only what they could carry as they entered the fairgrounds that week in May. Camp administrators issued mattress covers to be filled with straw and assigned families to small rooms in makeshift barracks. Over the next few months, the internees ate together in a mess hall, organized dances and activities, and learned to get along in the uncomfortably close quarters of what was called “Camp Harmony.”

I was touched when former Seattle School District administrator Frank Hanawalt told me a story about his father, the longtime Puyallup schools superintendent Paul Hanawalt. Hanawalt went to the federal authorities at the internment camp and requested a brief leave for Japanese-American students who were to graduate with the Puyallup High School Class of 1942. His request was approved, and on graduation day in June, the superintendent drove to the gates of the Fairgrounds and picked up Rosie Takemura and Yukio Takeuchi so that they could walk with their class.

When graduation was over, Mr. Hanawalt drove them back to the Fairgrounds. On the way, he made a detour up Pioneer and stopped at Martin’s Confectionary and treated the new Viking alums to Mr. Martin’s homemade ice cream.

In September, the internees were relocated by train to the desert of Idaho. The train-ride is an especially haunting memory for many of the Japanese-Americans who lived through that time.

When they arrived in the Idaho desert, the 964 Japanese-Americans from the Puyallup Valley and the 6,185 from Seattle called the compound Camp Minidoka. They lived in blockhouses.

Internees were allowed to apply for work releases away from the camp if they could line up employment. Bob Mizukami from Fife spent the fall of 1942 harvesting sugar beets and potatoes near Minidoka. After the harvest, he volunteered for the Army and spent the war serving with the all-Japanese-American 442nd Infantry regiment. His brother William also served in the 442^nd and lost his life in action at Anzio in Italy. The 442^nd became one of the most highly decorated regiments in all of American history. All told, 211 Minidoka internees volunteered for military service. We owe them our thanks.

After the war, many Japanese-Americans tried to return home. Some began life anew elsewhere. They faced continued prejudices from their fellow Americans that added to their difficulties. But they persevered. They became leaders in our communities.

We owe all of the Japanese-Americans who endured the injustice of internment our commitment to the principles of civil rights and equality. We here are chartered by the opening words of our state constitution to protect and maintain individual rights. May these hard events from seven decades ago remind us to take that work seriously. May we each do our part to stand for freedom and dignity in our own time.

Relationships and the war on poverty

Last weekend I got to sit on a panel entitled “True Compassion Doesn't Come from D.C.: How Communities Are Addressing Poverty Better than Bureaucracies” at a conference of Washington State conservatives. It was humbling and inspiring to sit on the panel with Jeff Lilley, executive director of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. Jeff made one of the most powerful statements I’ve ever heard about poverty. “Homelessness is not a resources issue,” he said. Read more at Philanthropy Daily.

Mark Zuckerberg, philanthropist

Eighteen million shares of Facebook stock valued at $992,200,000: that was the size of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s donation to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation a few weeks ago. It was America’s biggest charitable gift of 2013. And it was the first time a philanthropist under the age of 30 led the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual top givers’ list. This follows a $500 million gift that Zuckerberg gave to the same foundation in 2012. Read more at Philanthropy Daily.

Jon Kitna's gift to Lincoln High School

On Sunday it was the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Dallas Cowboys, and it was close: 24-22 for the Eagles. Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo was out of the game. Before Christmas, Romo had a back injury in the game against the Washington Redskins. So the Cowboys called former quarterback Jon Kitna out of retirement to fill in as a backup to Kyle Orton. Read more at Philanthropy Daily.

Remarks for One Another Foundation annual breakfast

One Another Foundation Annual Breakfast

October 22, 2013

It’s wonderful to see how this breakfast has grown over the past few years, along with the community support for this Foundation. And I have to tell you, of all the organizations that I’m involved with, this one gets me the most excited. 

I have the privilege of serving this community in the legislature. And it just so happens that state government is the primary provider of social services to people in our community. Hundreds of people get help from the DSHS Community Service Office in downtown Puyallup every day. Let me give you some statistics: 

• In one recent month, 36,928 people received basic food assistance through the Puyallup DSHS office. This amounted to an average allotment of $263.31 per person, or about $4.6 million combined.
• In another recent month, 1,997 people went to the DSHS office to apply for new benefits
• That same month, 2,462 people requested an EBT card
• And in that same month, the DSHS office in Puyallup recorded nearly 12,000 client contacts in its lobby or by phone. That’s 3,000 contacts per week and 600 contacts per day.

There are a number of advantages to the state providing these services. Indeed, I believe it’s important for government to provide these services.

But I want to say three things. First of all, government will never be able to do it all. No matter how much money we have at the state, we can’t meet all the needs of all the people in our community.

Second, government cannot provide for the spiritual needs of individuals and families. Government can cut checks and help people get by, but government cannot fix people’s deepest problems.

And third, our community’s network of private faith-based organizations is the best way I know of to address the material and spiritual needs of people in our community. This network is made of nonprofit organizations, families, churches, businesses, philanthropists, and volunteers. And my own opinion is that these community partners are better at loving and caring for people in need than any government bureaucracy ever was. The One Another Foundation exists to build the network of community partners that is helping to meet needs and to get Christians more active in service to their neighbors. 

This morning I want to recognize some of the people who make up that network of service.

If you’re the pastor of a church, would you stand?

Now remain standing, but I want to ask some others to join them:

If you work for a nonprofit or ministry organization, would you stand?

If you’re a teacher or educator, would you stand?

If you work in public service – police, fire, elected service, military, and the like, would you stand?

If you’re a business owner, would you stand?

If you volunteer for a faith-based nonprofit or ministry organization, would you stand?

Everyone in this room is doing something wonderful. Imagine what we could do together if we all did a little bit more to help the people in need in our midst.

The One Another Foundation is getting people to do that little bit more.  It’s raising awareness of the needs in our community. It’s challenging churches to expand their outreach. It’s matching volunteers with ministry opportunities. And it’s changing Puyallup for the better.

Millennials: the next civic generation

How are young Americans getting involved in their communities? How might they get more involved in the future? The research agency Achieve along with the Case Foundation and several other research partners have released the 2013 Millennial Impact Report with useful insights. This fourth annual study surveyed 2,665 young Americans who were born between 1979 and 1994. Most were college graduates and 65 percent were employed fulltime.

In 2012, according to the report, 73 percent of Millennials volunteered for a nonprofit organization. Almost four out of five young volunteers said that did so because of their passion for the cause. More than half were motivated by their interest in meeting likeminded volunteers. And nearly 83 percent of young Americans donated money to a nonprofit last year.

Young people value causes over specific organizations. They want to be involved in eradicating global poverty, combating human trafficking, or cleaning up a local watershed. It’s not just about joining the Kiwanis Club or the Elks Lodge. While previous generations joined clubs and organizations first, and only then discovered ways to serve, today’s young Americans see a problem first and then look for a way to solve it.

Read more at Philanthropy Daily here.