Photo by: David Stewart
The University Chaplain, Office of Internalization, Japanese Student Association (JSA) and DU Students of Japanese Language (DUSJL) co-sponsored a fundraiser last week on Driscoll Bridge that raised $1,355 to support the country of Japan, following the devastating natural disaster that has consumed the country for the past several weeks.
The partnered group teamed together and spearheaded the project by housing a table throughout the week that included various interactive activities, including origami folding and journal signing.
Some students were so moved by the events surrounding the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeast coastline Japan on Friday, March 11, that they donated multiple hours to the table per day during their first week back on campus.
Although students made up the majority of the group, professors and other adults, including Gary Brower, the university’s chaplain, played a vital role in the event.
“The whole concept behind this table was how DU, as a community, not as an institution, can take this opportunity to support something like this,” said Brower. “The real goal is to feel good about what DU is doing about this terrible event, because a lot of people don’t know what to do, and this gives them an opportunity to do that.”
Although a majority of the students were JSA affiliated, according to Brower, the table “took on a life of its own” by the middle of last week has at least a dozen of students flocked to the table at one time despite the fact there was a regulated spread sheet that had been used to organize who would serve and when.
In addition to Brower, another vital member of the project was sophomore Brittney Vincente, the founder of DUSJL, and the person that sent out the original e-mail during the school’s spring break week.
“I’m really impressed with how everyone has come together and worked together, and how much the group has accomplished this week,” said Vincente. ” This is the first time the DUSJL has done any type of fundraiser, because we are a relatively new club, and the amount of support from students and faculty has been really nice.”
According to Brower, who came up with the idea initially, the campus-wide response was immediate, citing that two people came by within 15 minutes of his webCentral announcement last weekend.
“People have been eager to respond, and we have benefited from this being the first week and a lot of activity on Driscoll,” said Brower. “But I have to say the students have done a great job interacting and the internal energy of the group has been strongly beneficial.”
Certainly, the group knows the situation better than most students on campus as several Japanese exchange students joined the table during the week in attempt to contribute to their native land.
Ryoko Murata, Keita Takata and Ai Sato were amongst the students helping the table, and had expressed their interest in the situation as they will return to their native land at the end of the current school year.
Although none of the exchange students lost anybody in the natural disaster, all were expressing lots of concern as well as hope toward the situation.
“I couldn’t study the night before my final test, and I couldn’t sleep,” said Murata, a senior from Tochigi, who was unable to contact her family once the earthquake hit. “Everything went down in my hometown – electricity, water, etc. – and I didn’t make contact with them until about 12 hours after the earthquake hot.
“The Japanese have good technology to protect themselves from earthquake, and they happen so often, that I didn’t realize how bad it was until I saw images from the day after,” said Takata, a junior from Hyogo. “The nation can’t really protect itself from a tsunami, and that is what killed more than 90 percent of the victims.”
While the exchange students’ thoughts remained tailored on their home nation, they have been overwhelmed by the impact of the fundraiser and what it has meant to other people.
“I never thought this many people would be this concerned. I mean people have left to go home and came back with money; it’s really surprising,” said Murata. “We had a group of elementary student sign the journal. I didn’t know the impact it had to reach little kids.”
In addition to the massive amounts of damage, the students say that food shortages, cold weather and nuclear problems are all big problems and causes for daily concern.
The group of JSA students and the chaplain are eager for this week’s new location for the table inside the Josef Korbel School of International Studies.
As for DUSJL, Vincente said she didn’t know what the groups involvement would look like after last week as she was only involved in the Driscoll aspect of the project. She said that Brower has taken charge as to where the table moves next; however her group will continue to work at fundraising for the cause, citing a possible dinner fundraiser that is currently in the process of being developed for the middle of April.
For other ways to contribute to the cause, Brower cites a variety of different media, most notably texting several national organizations.
In order to make a $10 donation to either the American Red Cross, the Convoy of Hope, Inc. and the Salvation Army, you can text REDCROSS TO 90999, TSUNAMI TO 50555 and JAPAN to 8088, respectively. In addition, the group urges students to look at Facebook Causes at www.causes.com/campaigns as well as Twitter http://hope140.org/hope4japan.
As of last week, there are more than 10,000 people that have been confirmed dead, and another 12,000 people still missing in Japan.
