If you needed a reminder of how interconnected the world has become, try this:
When 3 Staples freshmen planned a bake sale to aid Japan — 1 of the girls is half-Japanese, and lived there for years — CNN decided it was an excellent story.
The international news network sent a camera crew to Westport, filmed a story on the importance of teenagers taking relief efforts into their own hands — and conducted the interview in Spanish. It ran Tuesday on CNN Español. The girls sounded great.
[cnnvideo url=’http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/spanish/2011/03/15/hauser.us.cookies.4japan.cnn’ inline=’true’]
Alice McDonald is the 9th grader whose family recently moved here from her mother’s native Japan. Alice left behind many friends and relatives.
Shortly after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit, she and classmates Rachel Paul and Jennifer Mastrianni knew they had to do something.
They designed a series of bake sales — and more. They named their project AidJapan 2011. They created a website and Facebook page, and asked friends and family members to bake. Many have already volunteered.
The first bake sale is this Saturday (March 19) in front of People’s United Bank (1790 Post Road East) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The girls will deliver the money directly to the Japanese Consulate in New York, for immediate distribution to the Japanese Red Cross.
Congratulations, girls. Felicidades, las niñas.
Or, as they say in Japan: おめでとう、女の子
(The trio is also accepting checks, written to the Japan Society of Fairfield County and marked “Earthquake Relief.” Checks can be mailed to the Japan Society of Fairfield County, c/o 140 Field Point Road #8, Greenwich, CT 06830. All gifts are tax-deductible.)
Great job girls….
Smart girls bringing it directly to the Japanese Consulate, i.e., it’s as good as in the hands of the people who need it in Japan. Side Question: how/who is it that is at CNN-Westport so that Westport appears so much on CNN? Over the last few weeks, I see the Westport high school teams on CNN and now these high school children.
Congratulations to these compassionate girls who look beyond themselves. We should all take a page from their book! They might want to re-examine their cause, though. According to New York Times, Japan doesn’t need money to help with disaster relief. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16charity.html
Here is an excerpt from that article:
The Japanese Red Cross, for example, has said repeatedly since the day after the earthquake that it does not want or need outside assistance.
Keep up the good work and don’t be deterred from your desire to make life easier for your fellow person.
I was astonished to see the article referenced in the Times. CNN and other news stations are running countless stories about local Japanese residents on eternal lines waiting for some type of food or water with little to go around. What’s going on here??
“Anonymous,” look at the article again. There is now a postscript that reads:
“Since this article was originally published, the Japanese Red Cross has begun taking donations to support relief work in the earthquake-stricken region of Japan.”