After a 9.0 earthquake sparked 23-foot tsunami waves that hit northeastern Japan on March 11, Saint Louis University senior Linda Holyoke saw the wreckage on the news and decided to take action to raise funds for relief. Now, with paper cranes and a concert, several SLU students have made a difference in earthquake-damaged Japan.
“I realized that even just one person can make a difference,” Holyoke said, citing the book “Three Cups of Tea,” written by Greg Mortenson, as her inspiration.
She began talking with students and realized that other Chartered Student Organizations were looking for ways to assist the relief effort, but no one group had a definite plan. The Asian American Association, the International Student Federation and the Diversity Leadership Cabinet called a collective Japan relief meeting to discuss the most effective way to gather funds and increase awareness of conditions in Japan.
Sophai Thach, philanthropy chair of AAA, said the need for a central idea was crucial. At the relief meeting, the CSOs decided to focus on two efforts to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross: Selling 1,000 paper cranes and hosting a Japan Benefit Concert. According to Holyoke, Japanese tradition says that a wish will be granted to the folder of 1,000 paper cranes; the team wanted to respect this tradition as they sought to raise funds and awareness of conditions in Japan. The Filipino Student Association, Delta Gamma, Delta Sigma Phi and Alpha Phi Omega offered to help with the logistics of folding cranes and setting up for the concert.
“We thought it would be great to have more man power this way instead of just with one group,” Holyoke said. With funding from Student Government Association in place, students began folding cranes. Several CSOs held crane-folding workshops to encourage students to participate. After finishing the folding effort, cranes sold in the BSC two weeks ago for $1. The group sold over 430 by the end of the week.
Anita Cheng, DLC Vice President and ISF president, was impressed by the way CSOs joined for one cause.
“Sometimes people find niches and stay there at SLU. But in this case, we pushed for collaboration between different groups, and it really worked,” Cheng said.
At the relief concert on April 14, a cappella groups Decadence, Astha, Bare Naked Statues and other student acts performed for a crowd who gathered for a $5 admission fee. According to Holyoke, the Red Cross will double all funds raised by students. Oscar Vazquez, SGA Vice President for Diversity and Social Justice, said a substantial amount of money has already been raised.
“The last amount of money I have heard that we have raised so far between the concert and the cranes is a little over $800, and we are expecting that to grow in the coming weeks,” Vazquez said.
Reflecting on the experience of helping to organize an entire concert in a little less than a week, Thach was happy with the team effort.
“SLU’s Jesuit mission tells us that besides having brains for school, we must have hearts willing to care for others. That’s what we were trying to do,” Thach said.
Though the concert has past, the team is considering looking for ways to continue their efforts to raise money for Japan. Cheng said that students would still try to sell 1,000 paper cranes and were examining possibilities for selling cranes in the future. In addition, Holyoke said students might form a group at SLU that concentrates on disaster response assistance. She also noted that several lectures are planned in response to the Japan earthquakes that will allow students to gain more awareness of current situations in Japan.
Overall, students felt that the time and effort they put in to helping others was worth what they received in return. “It feels good to do good because that’s how it should be. We’re not here for ourselves,” Holyoke said. “We have to stick together.”
