First United Methodist Church of Loomis Donates $15K to Sierra College Foundation

Donation to Support the Printing of Still Standing Guard

The $15,000 donation from the First United Methodist Church of Loomis is to support the publication of an update to the award-winning book Standing Guard: Telling Our Stories (2002), which compiled oral histories from survivors of the World War II internment of Japanese Americans. 

The gift was driven by the words of the late Sierra College employee Shigeo Yokote who said, “My mission is to continue to support education so this doesn’t happen again.” 

First United Methodist Church of Loomis was founded in 1903 by members of the local Japanese community and has served the community for 120 years, with the exception of 1942–1946 when it was closed due to the Internment. 

To support the next publication of Still Standing Guard or directly support Sierra College students, visit www.sierracollege.edu/foundation or email foundation@sierracollege.edu. 

About The Standing Guard Project 

In 2002, The Standing Guard Project at Sierra College directed resources toward a variety of interdisciplinary projects focused on commemorating the 60th anniversary of World War II Japanese American internment and the lessons that event in our history taught us about the necessity of protecting and upholding the Constitutional rights of all United States citizens. The resulting endeavor merged more than 10 different disciplines in a college-wide, multi-faceted educational vehicle that breached traditional classroom walls, united instruction, blurred the differences between liberal and vocational arts, and drew dozens of members of the local community into active participation in the college through the project’s many different and ongoing programs. 

Watch a video celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Standing Guard book.

Visit the Standing Guard Garden on Sierra College’s Rocklin Campus.