Over the past year, we've witnessed the incredible journey of 2 million paper cranes, mailed in by thousands of young people worldwide to support Japan, after the devastating earthquake on March 11, 2011. We think this story will inspire you, too. This 4-minute film captures the story of the Paper Cranes for Japan campaign, and how it became a worldwide movement.
Everyone who participated in the Paper Cranes for Japan Challenge is a winner–we've received so many incredible contributions and messages from around the world. Here are just a few...check out more on the Students Rebuild Japan blog, and stay posted on how the $500,000 raised through Students Rebuild is rebuilding Japan!
- Children of Bus 63 help Japan - Mt. Vernon, WA. A group of students turn commute time into a suite of cranefolding sessions.
- 16-year-old boy mobilizes his community - New York, NY. Senegalese native Cheihk Diankha sends letters to his community and receives over 1,000 cranes!
- Six-foot crane at Bonny Eagle High School - Standish, ME. Bonny Eagle students raised $450 and folded 505 cranes after the tsunami. Then they outdo themselves with increasingly large cranes, too big to mail but just right to symbolize their campaign.
- Love + Dedication = 13,226 - Pearland, TX. A mission from the Dawson High School DoSomething Club surpasses a lofty 10K crane goal...with help from some younger encouragement!
- Message of Hope from Bulgaria - Haskovo, Bulgaria. Local UNESCO club attaches 1410 cranes to their message of hope.
- Switzerland students fold 1,701 cranes for Japan - Winterthur, Switzerland. A community comes together for origami, a particularly touching moment for the Japanese family at International School Winterthur.
- Students respond at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan - Misawa, Japan. More than 7K cranes are folded by children at Sollars Elementary, who wanted to help with the relief efforts they saw around them.
- Help and healing from Calgary - Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Master's Academy & College students and their community aid friends in Mito City, Japan, collecting toonies and sending 1,636 cranes toward the broader relief effort.
- Origami accompanies Elie Dubois school dedication - Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Haitian all-girls vocational school and Students Rebuild participant École Elie Dubois folds origami for the Paper Cranes initiative as part of their own school reconstruction dedication ceremony.