J-Sei

You have the power to improve the lives of our most cherished community members by making a gift to J-Sei. And during the month of May, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous anonymous donor up to $50,000.

J-Sei provides healthy home delivered nutritious meals, online learning opportunities, and case management for Asian American communities in the East Bay of Northern California.

Watch this video to see all the wonderful ways the J-Sei community comes together to serve these meals:

"I live alone and my family isn't nearby so I need help with my meals and groceries. I just don't have another way. I can't imagine what I would do without J-Sei lunches or the food you drop off."

-May, Home Delivered Meal Participant

Your gift provides warm, delicious Japanese meals that get delivered to the homes of over 130 seniors over 190 square miles from central Oakland through El Cerrito, Hayward, San Leandro and San Lorenzo in Northern California. This past year we delivered over 30,000 meals.

We deliver Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each delivery consists of one hot and one to two frozen meals so that each person receives 7 meals a week.

We have seen the demand for these meals grow 35% during this crisis.

These meals are prepared by J-Sei's own chef, Yuji Ishikata, who shops for the freshest ingredients and makes sure the meals are nutritionally balanced and comforting. These meals are cooked in J-Sei's own kitchen to ensure food safety.

Gentle Yoga class prior to the pandemic

Your gift also makes it possible for J-Sei to continue providing its popular workshops and programs for the J-Sei community during this pandemic. 

Over 150 community members have transitioned to online offerings for a total of 750 class participants each month.

Community members find great comfort and a depth of connection from being able to see their friends in these workshops and online events.

For instance, Movie Night attracts over 150 people monthly. The virtual event allows us to invite filmmakers who live anywhere to join us for a post-screening discussion. Recently, Kimi Takesue from New York, talked about her film, "95 and 6 to Go." Our in-house chef, Yuji Ishikata, prepares a special bento for Movie Night. We are eating the same food, watching the same movie together, and discussing it afterwards with the filmmaker.

We have some new classes offerings that have been very popular this year. They include: 

• Staying Healthy during COVID
• Aging Together
• J-Sei Book Club
• Japanese Speaking Community Talk (for Japanese speakers)
• Intro to Tai Chi class to help prepare students for the Advanced Tai Chi class
• Simple Japanese Cooking
• Origami Pop-Up

This is in addition to our on ongoing classes such as:

• Gentle Yoga 
• Family Caregiver 
• Community Ukulele 
• Writing 
• Qi Gong 
• Ochanomi Tomodachi 
• Sogetsu Ikebana 
• Mah Jong Club 
• Men's Group

"What would we do without you? You've enriched my life as well for many others and we're ever so grateful to you. I never dreamed at my old age that I'd see 20 faces appear simultaneously in the comfort of my own home. It's fortunate that I'm still around to watch this miracle of technology happening before my eyes!"

- Mary Ann, J-Sei Community Member

Calligraphy class participant

J-Sei hosts different lecture series. This year we hosted a virtual exhibit, "Seen and Unseen: Queering Japanese American History Before 1945."  This exhibit and the two lecture series that followed attracted over 1000 people from all over the United States and Japan. The exhibit is both in English and Japanese. 

Case Management is another crucial component to J-Sei's work. J-Sei's case managers assess senior needs and coordinate resources and care. A team of 6 staff and 14 volunteers are in regular contact with seniors to make sure no one gets too lonely and receives the services they need.

Here is an in-depth look at how the J-Sei team comes together to serve a very special community member:

You can see that your gift is put to good use right away!

J-Sei also manages J-Sei home, a senior living facility in Hayward. This 14-bed home is a haven for families who cannot house their own elders. 

This May, your gift will provide:

1. Delicious home delivered meals 
2. Online classes, lectures and exhibits
3. Friendly visitor calls and professional case management 
4. Safe and compassionate care for J-Sei Home residents

Please Join Us!

Please give as generously as you are able to support these vital programs. For every dollar you give, a generous anonymous donor will match your gift dollar for dollar and double your impact. And once you have made your gift, you can also organize a personal fundraiser  throughout the month of May using emails and social media to encourage support for J-Sei from your friends and family. Please go to our event page and sign up to fundraise for J-Sei during the month of May.

Thank you so much for your support!

POPULATIONS SERVED
Japanese : Korean : Pacific Islander : Chinese : Filipino : Hawaiian