Students Raise Funds for Japan

On March 23, Edgemont High School’s Cultural Exchange Club hosted a bake sale to raise money to donate to the survivors of Japan’s recent disaster. Volunteer bakers provided about three hundred rice-balls (onigri), batches of brownies, cookies and other goods for sale. Students and faculty members crowded around the club’s bake sale, eager to make purchases. Every item was sold for just a dollar, and the club raised a grand total of about $730.

Edgemont Senior Kozue Iwasaki, who was the inspiration behind the bake sale, had the idea to form a fundraiser: “Many of my friends who are living in Japan right now have been updating their Facebook statuses, saying that they have no electricity in certain areas and are lacking simple things such as toilet paper. Even though my friends live in Tokyo where they weren’t as drastically affected by the disaster, they still experienced much of the same as those who are in Sendai.”

It seems like the citizens of every city in Japan got affected in some way or the other by the earthquake or tsunami. “My aunt was stuck in a car for thirteen hours on the roads because of the earthquake,” said Kozue about her family members experiencing the earthquake. Ally Martin, a junior who is part of the club added that, “[her] friends who live in Kawasaki, which is close to Tokyo, were trapped in their school for three days straight. They couldn’t reply to my emails and I went to school worried each day thinking that something had happened to them.”

Ally has already made a contribution to help Japan: “I’ve donated three hundred dollars to the Red Cross already with my family and I’m probably going to raise more for charities. The amount of money we made today was a lot more than I think anyone expected. People were extremely generous towards making donations. Some students just donated money without even taking any of the pastries.” In addition to the club’s efforts, community members are supporting Japan in many ways. The eighth graders at Edgemont are holding a coin collection soon while the Edgemont-Aid, Builder’s Club and the student body is planning on holding fundraisers as well. All of the proceeds made by the bake sale are going to be donated to an organization called the Japan Society which will help provide necessities for those suffering from the aftermath of the disaster.

Submitted by Tiffany Jiang

Tiffany Jiang is a freshmen at Edgemont Jr./Sr. High School and a photographer for the school's newsletter. She is interested in writing, photography and multimedia.

Quaker Ridge First Graders Take Initiative

It all started during recess. A group of Quaker Ridge first grade girls were discussing the horrible disaster in Japan—the visual images, the plight of the people, and the tremendous devastation and destruction. The girls decided that they had to get involved. They would create their own charity.

The first grade girls are Samantha Friedland, Juliette Silk, Julia Schnipper, Chloe Wise, Julia Raskin and Nicole Cohn. By the end of recess, they had a name, logo, plan, and of course… a handshake. They were “Friends For Change”. They took the logo to one of the mothers who designs clothes and created t-shirts.

“Friends For Change” had its first event on Friday, March 18. The group created posters, baked cookies, popped popcorn and made lemonade. They raised $442 at that event alone and to date have raised $1,200!  The Girl Scout Organization heard about their efforts, endorsed the group, and pledged assistance as well. More events have been discussed. All proceeds are going directly to the relief effort in Japan. Congratulations to these little kids with big ideas!

Who said that recess was all play?

Submitted by Rhonda Schnipper