WCU Students Raise Funds for Japan: These Paper Cranes will Fly a Long Way

After the March 11th Earthquake and consequent tsunami in Japan, Western Carolina University students joined together to raise funds for disaster relief in Japan by folding origami paper cranes and selling those cranes for $1.

Today several of these students and their faculty advisors gathered at WCU's International Festival in order to present the American Red Cross with a substantial amount of funds raised.

But why cranes? An instructor in the Japanese department and a faculty advisor to the students in the International Studies program, Yumiko Ono explained that cranes are a symbol of peace in the Japanese culture and was quoted in the Asheville-Citizen Times as stating that: “Because of the devastating situation, it was only natural to think that the paper crane would be appropriate to wish for peace as well as contributing to the earthquake relief fund in Japan.”

Campus visitors, students and faculty could make at least a $1 donation to the efforts in Japan by purchasing one of these paper origami cranes.

Many faculty and students in the Japanese program at WCU have been touched by such efforts on the part of their campus community. In particular, Anna Hunt, a junior originally from a city outside of Tokyo, had trouble reaching her father and grandparents after news broke out about the earthquake. She estimated that she tried to call her family 20 to 30 times before finally speaking with them. She was quoted in The Reporter, the WCU student newspaper, as saying:

“I thought I had lost them. Now, all I think about is those people who still have a person missing or who have lost someone,” said Hunt. “I think it’s good we are raising money for people who need it."

The funds presented to the American Red Cross today will go a long way to relieve the devastation in Japan. Currently, there are nearly 200,000 people in Red Cross shelters in Japan who are being offered food, hygiene products and even hot showers. In addition, the Red Cross is funding half of the UN World Food Program's efforts in Japan, which is focused primarily on the delivery and storage of relief items. And lastly, of course there are thousands of Japanese Red Cross volunteers working on medical teams, disaster response teams and shelter teams.

Want to spread some peace of your own? Learn how to make an origami paper crane below.