Always Dream Summer Newsletter
June 27, 2025
Always Dream Summer Newsletter ☀️
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As the 2024-25 school year wraps up, we’re celebrating the incredible journey our Always Reading program has taken with families across Northern California and Hawai‘i. This year, we were proud to partner with 36 schools supporting over 4,700 children and their family members in building strong reading habits at home.
https://www.alwaysdream.org
Together, families explored a total of 276,866 books and read for over ONE MILLION minutes on their Epic digital libraries…1,530,368 minutes to be exact! We’re so proud of the growth we’ve seen and the joyful learning moments shared, and we can’t wait to build on this momentum as we head into a new school year in a few months.
We’re calculating the data to show the full scope of our impact over the last year; stay tuned for our Impact Report coming this August.
A Transformational Gift for Always Dream
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https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z6EfkTrgzcrvbCfK7
We’re excited to share that Always Dream has received a $500,000 investment from the Tsuha Hawaiʻi Aloha Fund! This incredible gift (to be released over four years) will help us expand our efforts across the Hawaiian Islands and reach even more children and families with the power of books and at-home reading.
Wally Tsuha, founder of the Tsuha Hawaiʻi Aloha Fund said: “We believe it is so important and critical today for the children of Hawaiʻi, especially those who are underserved, to be able to read and be tech comfortable. We are so impressed with how well the organization is run and appreciate the strategic approach Always Dream is taking. Always Dream is making a major impact in the lives of children across the state, and we believe in the work they are doing.”
The Tsuha Hawaiʻi Aloha Fund also hopes this gift inspires others to join them in making bold investments in early literacy. We’re so grateful for their generosity and excited for what’s ahead!
Sponsorships & Tickets Now Available: 2025 Always Dream Gala – San Francisco
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https://www.classy.org/event/2025-always-dream-california-gala/e653728
Our 2025 Always Dream Annual Gala will take place on Saturday, October 11th at the beautiful Palace Hotel in San Francisco!
Join us for an unforgettable evening featuring dinner, drinks, exciting auction packages, a celebration of our impact, and an afterparty you won’t want to miss. This year, we’ll be honoring Nadyne Orona as our 2025 Dream Maker awardee. Tables are filling quickly, so now’s the perfect time to reserve yours.
View Sponsorship Opportunities (https://paybee.io/@alwaysdream@31)
The Kristi Yamaguchi Family Literacy Festival
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR52mrfp0MI
Kristi Yamaguchi’s Family Literacy Festival will once again return to the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose on Saturday, September 6th. This will be a day to celebrate the fun of family reading and the power of storytelling. You can expect a few new things as well: a Curious George museum exhibit, Ricky Roo and Friends, and Reading Puppies!
See You There? 📚 (https://alwaysdream.org/kristi-yamaguchi-family-literacy-festival/)
PBS KVIE Studio Series: Pursuing Dreams
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https://alwaysdream.org/heller-jewelers-always-dream-collection/
For our friends in the Sacramento area, we hope you’ll join us for this live event with Kristi that takes place in the Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation Studio at PBS KVIE on Thursday, August 14th. In a conversational interview format, Kristi will discuss her incredible career as an Olympic Gold Medalist, bestselling children’s author, philanthropist, and advocate for early literacy.
Tickets Available Now 🎟️ (https://www.kvie.org/events/studioseries/)
Always Dream in the News
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https://www.alwaysdream.org
Photo courtesy of Star-Advertiser
⭐️ Star-Advertiser: Students Meet Olympic Reading Challenge (https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/04/23/photo-gallery/students-meet-olympic-reading-challenge/)
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The Always Dream team, alongside our friends at local Oʻahu family business Rainbow Drive-In, visited students and families at Puʻuhale Elementary to celebrate all their hard work this year!
⭐️ Real Options for City Kids: Always Reading Partnership (https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BqBXHHEvD/)
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A great video highlighting our partnership with Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K.) which allows us to bring our Always Reading program to both El Dorado and Visitacion Valley Elementary schools in San Francisco.
⭐️ Bruce Lee Podcast: Flowing with Kristi Yamaguchi (https://brucelee.com/podcast-blog/2025/05/22/905-flowing-with-kristi-yamaguchi)
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Kristi joins the Bruce Lee Podcast for a powerful conversation about identity, resilience, and using her platform to create lasting impact through Always Dream.
⭐️ Pacific Edge Magazine: Women in Business (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ss9hvZyzp92sN5jh5rEfkl-3USIi925F/view?usp=sharing)
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Kristi is featured among Hawai‘i’s inspiring Women in Business, sharing her journey from Olympic gold to championing early childhood literacy.
⭐️ Visit California: Kristi’s Golden State (https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=36644840)
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Kristi reflects on her Bay Area roots, Olympic journey, and the mission behind Always Dream, all while sharing her favorite California spots and stories from the ice.
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