Nearly one month after the deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan, several campus initiatives have started up to try to aid the victims of the disaster.
The Japanese Student Association has initiated a nationwide effort called the “Million Crane Project.”
The original plan consisted of simply folding paper cranes as a sign of support for Japan, but Asumi Shibata ’14, the vice president of JSA, said she thought the effort would be more meaningful if they were gathered together in one place.
“So many people all over America are making cranes, so I wondered how many that would be,” she said. There are currently 42 universities collaborating on the project, sending their contributions to Princeton for all the cranes to be collected and eventually sent to Japan.
Shibata, who is Japanese but has not lived in the country recently, noted that, while none of her family or friends were in the danger zone, the disaster “really affects everybody.”
“It’s a huge shock,” said Shibata, who came up with the idea for the paper crane initiative over spring break. “I wanted to do something.”
The newly formed JSA is working with a small membership, Shibata explained, as the group only “sort of revived this year.” However, the paper cranes project has already received international coverage.
“We’ve had interviews from Japanese TV stations; we really want to get our message out to Japan as a whole,” she said. “Even if one person says thank you, it matters.”
The JSA is also “working on a financial plan that will hopefully be able to match each crane with a dollar,” she added.
“What Japan needs is money and food, but I think that moral support and hope is also really important,” Shibata said.
In addition to the “Million Crane Project,” the JSA has set up a table in Frist Campus Center, open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with donation cans for the Red Cross and Social Venture Partners International. The Red Cross provides short-term relief for disaster victims, while SVPI focuses on long-term relief efforts.
Shibata explained that the JSA is unable to provide an exact count of the funds collected thus far bec are unable to open the cans to check, but she estimated that the group has collected “over several thousand” dollars so far.
She added that the group is also planning an upcoming benefit concert as well as an origami-folding event.
“As time goes on, we understand people will get sick of donation boxes, so we’ll be leaning towards turning it into an origami-folding project,” Shibata said.
On March 25, the Chinese Students Association also held a member auction to benefit victims of the natural disaster.
“Our new board took its term in February, and we had people put out ideas for events,” CSA president Elizabeth Cai ’13 said. “One idea we liked best was the idea of a member auction.”
The event was originally intended to benefit a charity coalition for Asian-American children and families, Cai explained, but CSA decided to redirect its efforts over spring break.
“The Asian American Students Association just did an auction two years ago, so it was a good time to do it again,” Cai added.
In total, the group raised $1,584. People who “purchased” dates received a CSA-sponsored Fruity Yogurt date worth up to $10.
“We’re thinking about doing it again next year; it was much more successful than we thought it would be,” Cai said.
“The success of the donations definitely exceeded our expectations,” she added.
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