Kase Program participants serve as interns at Japanese American community organizations.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California announce thats applications are now available for the 2016 Kase Nikkei Community Scholarship Program.

The Kase Program offers students a $5,000 educational scholarship to support their college education. It provides college students an opportunity to intern at and support the work of the JCCCNC, a community nonprofit organization located in San Francisco’s Japantown. Participants will gain professional experience, enhanced skills in various areas, including personal development, and guidance during a ten-week summer internship. The goal of the program is to support the development of the next generation of community leaders.

The Japanese American community has a vibrant history spanning more than a century and over several generations in the United States. Japanese Americans have the tremendous task of defining and addressing the needs of the present community to ensure its future vitality.

Kase Program participants learning Obon dancing.

Paul Osaki, JCCCNC executive director, mentions, “Preparing our youth to meet these challenges, through programs like the Kase Nikkei Community Scholarship Program, is essential if we want to build future leaders in our community who are creative, competitive and capable in the years ahead.”

Kase Program participants will also take part in the statewide Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program at the JCCCNC. Interns will receive valuable training in community service, cultural preservation and networking with various community members. One day of each week is reserved for the interns to visit Japanese American organizations and meet with community leaders to expand their personal knowledge of available services, resources, opportunities and issues the organization may be facing.

Important details:

• Participants must be available full-time from June 8 to Aug. 19, 2016 and the following weekend dates: June 18, June 16, July 10, July 17, July 23 and July 31.

• Japanese ancestry is not a requirement, but a strong background of involvement in the Japanese American community is preferred, as well as a desire to learn about Japanese/Japanese American culture, heritage and the San Francisco Japantown community.

• To be eligible for the 2016 program the applicant must be a continuing college student in fall 2016, or have graduated as part of the spring class of 2016, and be 18 years of age at the start of the program (birth date on or before June 8, 1998).

• Up to five participants will be selected based on application, letter of recommendation and interview.

• Applications are due on Friday, May 20, 2016.

The Kase Program application is a two-step process. After the initial application and letters of recommendation have been submitted, qualified applicants will be invited to a personal interview May 22-24 and participants will be selected by May 27.

Applications and letters of recommendation should be submitted no later than May 20, 2016 to:

JCCCNC, Attn: Kase Scholarship, 1840 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94115

For more information or to download the application, visit www.jcccnc.org or contact Lori Matoba at (415) 567-5505 or lmatoba@jcccnc.org.