years the key spokesperson and then also director of the Music Is Good Medicine non-profit organization. It used community outreach programs and performance visits to schools, senior centers, and hospitals to promote healing and encourage a healthy lifestyle and a connection to music. He has also done several performances in tsunami-devastated Sendai, Japan in order to bring peace and respite to the distraught and newly homeless residents' lives. Following the dissolution of the Music Is Good Medicine program, Shimabukuro founded his own non-profit organization, the Four Strings Foundation, in 2013. It creates music education workshops nationwide and provides ukuleles, materials, and training tools to schools and music teachers. It also hosts concerts and publishes music media, lobbies to increase music education, encourages schools to make music programs culturally relevant, conducts research in music education and children's social/emotional learning, and provides funding for music education in schools nationwide. Shimabukuro stated: "The Four Strings Foundation was created as a vehicle to give people opportunities to make a difference. My primary focus is to inspire kids through music to help them discover their passion in life. The message is simple – strive to be the best, live drug-free and have fun." The mission statement of Four Strings is: "To create new opportunities for people of all ages to participate in the act of making music and to use those experiences as a vehicle to promote personal empowerment and fulfillment.""Jake Shimabukuro: The Ukulele Man". The Outsider Argentina. April 10, 2013. Personal life Shimabukuro married OB/GYN physician Kelly Yamasato in May 2011. They have a son, Chase, born in August 2012. Jake's brother, Bruce Shimabukuro, is also a well known ukulele player in his own right; he teaches ukulele and has released albums of his own. Bruce accompanies his brother on guitar on a track on My Life, and composed one of the tracks, "Ukulele Bros.," on Peace Love Ukulele. Shimabukuro's career-long manager was Kazusa Flanagan, a native of Japan who moved to Hawaii in 1992. Awards Na Hoku Hanohano Awards Pure Heart member 1999 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards: Pure Heart – Best Album of the Year 1999 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards: Pure Heart – Island Contemporary Album of the Year 1999 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards: Most Promising Artist (Pure Heart) 1999 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards: Favorite Entertainer of the Year (Pure Heart) 2000 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards: Pure Heart 2 – Contemporary Album of