Throughout the month of May, we have celebrated Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Following our Social Justice Framework, we intentionally invested in the ground floor by supporting local AANHPI-owned businesses and amplifying the voices of community experts.
Supporting AANHPI-owned Businesses
With Intentionalist, we kicked off the month celebrating National Small Business Week by opening a $500 tab at the local family-owned restaurant, Rainier Teriyaki. When the initial tab ran out in one day, we opened another for a total of $1000 for fans to enjoy some freshly made Korean-Japanese style teriyaki dishes.
Our partnership with Intentionalist also culminated in our participation in Receipt and Receive, as well as the showcasing of AANHPI-owned businesses on matchday. Through Receipt and Receive, we encourage our fans to #SpendItLikeItMatters. By uploading your receipt from an AANHPI-owned business this month, you will be entered to win prizes from Sounders FC, Intentionalist and other local professional sports teams! On matchdays in May to-date, we have showcased nine different AANHPI-owned businesses through food trucks in North Plaza, presented by First & Goal Inc. and Levy, and pop-up kiosks outside Section 113.
During our May 7 match against Kansas City, our expert partners from the Wing Luke Museum hosted a pop-up exhibit. Fans were invited to engage with their exhibit, ‘Nobody Lives Here’, sharing the history of the Chinatown-International District, learn more about the museum and even learn how to make origami jumping frogs! Wing Luke’s presence extended to Scarves Up, as current Executive Director Joel Tan, along with former Executive Directors Beth Takekawa and Ron Chew led fans in the matchday tradition. The match also featured performances from Mak Fai! Mak Fai, Seattle’s premier lion dance troupe, aims to enrich and promote lion dancing in the Greater Seattle area and keep the tradition alive by teaching younger generations in the community.
One Seattle Day of Service
In partnership with the City of Seattle and OL Reign, we partook in the second annual One Seattle Day of Service on Saturday, May 20. This volunteering event promotes inclusion, cooperation and service by inviting community members to come together and give back. We focused efforts our around our home at Lumen Field by hosting street beautification events in Pioneer Square and the Chinatown-International District, as part of our commitment to the AANHPI community. A multitude of Sounders FC fans and staff showed up to our two service projects to help us clean up our home and give back to the surrounding neighborhoods.
What’s Ahead
We will close out the month-long celebrations with Sounders Day at the Wing Luke Museum and our home match versus San Jose.
Sounders Day is on Sunday, May 28th! Fans will be granted free admission to Wing Luke when wearing Sounders FC gear. Be sure to check out the interactive exhibit “Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee” that invites viewers to step into the mind, body and spirit of Bruce Lee. Wing Luke visitors on Sounders Day will also be entered to win an autographed Bruce Lee Kit!
Our final home match for the month is on May 31. In continuation of our partnership with Intentionalist, we will have the following AANHPI-owned businesses at Lumen Field for fans to enjoy: Tabassum and Buddah Bruddah.
As AANHPI Heritage Month comes to a close, we look forward to continuing our efforts to invest in our communities and continue to educate ourselves, and others, on the systemic impacts of bias all year round.
