About The Society For Friendship With China, Inc
The Society for Friendship with China, Inc. was formed in 2004 as a 501(c)(3) organization for the purpose of officially conducting friendship activities, trade, tourism and educational exchanges, and for promoting better understanding between the people of China and the Kansas City Metropolitan area. Our most immediate goal is to provide a better understanding of Chinese culture in Kansas City by holding the Annual Kansas City International Dragon Boat Festival along Brush Creek and by providing a Chinese New Year or Spring Festival Banquet each Lunar New Year. Our long term goal is to develop a Chinese Garden in Kansas City. You can learn more about these projects under separate headings on the homepage.
For membership information, send an e-mail to
Christopher Graham
Our pledges to you - 义
The heart of our organization's purpose is to share cultural mindsets to enrich people of our nations and through that find mutual benefit -- through trade, etc.
With that in mind, I would like to share a little bit of the Chinese tradition that infuses many aspects of Chinese business and personal life. It is how I feel about our sponsors and those who support our Society, and perhaps you will find meaning and value in it too for your endeavors, especially during these domestic and global economic times.
In China, people -- whether they be businesses, friends or family -- find peace and meaning in their work when they...
Yi is a virtue of loyalty, of friendship. It is an honest pledge from one to another. A pledge of shared purpose and goals, of common understanding between people, between organizations, that you have a sincere interest in the betterment of the other.
These times are a good time for me to bring up the concept of Yi, because it is something we all naturally seek. Someone to offer resources, to help, to encourage, on our side in challenging times and in good ones too.
In these times, when organizations struggle, it is most fitting for me to say thank you to our sponsors who are more than sponsors of a single event. When you are a sponsor, you show your gift of Yi to our organization. Without your financial support, we could not enrich our collective community. What your financial support really says to us is your intention of a shared interest in and a shared belief that together everyone achieves more.
Your support in any way is about a bigger purpose. Our loyalty -- our Yi -- extends to you in gratitude far beyond the direct benefits of any one event. As our sponsor, our benefactor, we accept your gift as an intention of shared mindset in the greater good of everyone. And we return our Yi to you in ways that show we share the intention of your greater good -- of business and personal prosperity. Yi has no time limit, it is not transactional. Your intention with funding opens a bridge that lasts, a bridge to friendship whose benefits arise in ways that are unexpected and ongoing.
This is really what our Society is about. It is a friendship society. Your sponsorship, your time, your efforts, your actions are Yi. This value is immeasurable and for it Yi is returned to you. It is a law of nature, it is what makes our lives meaningful and prosperous if we live by it. To you, our sponsors, we extend our greatest gift, our Yi. It is the triple win and with it, an abundant, fulfilling 2011.
Advisory Board Member
Tammy Breitenbach
President
Catalyst Partners, Inc.
Ph. (816) 726-0579
Fax (866) 929-7170
Board Members:
Bob Chien - President of the Board, President of Kansas City-Xi’an Sister City Committee
John Phillips - Executive VP, Partner, HuschBlackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP
Jeannette Nichols - VP - Community, Miller Nichols Foundation
Joyce Cox - VP - Grants, President of US - China Peoples Friendship Association
Christopher Graham - Treasurer, CPA, Graham and Associates
Fang Shen - Secretary, Attorney at Law, HuschBlackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP
Teresa Chien -Director- Culture, China Commissioner of Ethnic Enrichment
Don Breckenridge -Director, General Manager, InterContinental Hotel
Will Hodgkinson -Director
Advisory Board for 2010:
Yijing Brentano - Sprint, Vice President
Tammy Breitenbach - Catalyst Partners, President
Marcia Cooper - Web Page
Dan Gilbert - Photographer
Linda Hanley - Photographer
Donna Kelke - Banquet
Mary Edith Lillis - Dragon Boat and Lantern Committee
Kile Morrison - GLMV Architecture, Inc.
Michael Newby - Web Page Host sponsor and Computer advisor
Mike Newburger - Newburger Foundation
Gary Pettett - Snow Funds Board President
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