Donate Your Used Things
Many people will leave Tsukuba in the next couple of months, so I thought it might be a good time to remind everyone about the possibility of donating used items to various charities. The Tell and Sell Japan website has a list of some places that accept used items. One of the charities on that list is particularly in need of children's things. I have included the information below.
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Give Kids a Chance
Will accept rehabilitative equipment for children with special needs, wheelchairs, adaptive chairs, foot braces, leg braces, hip supporters, Type A baby strollers (the big sturdy kind), strollers for twins (front and back style), buggy boards, bike toddler seats (with high back and harness). We are sending them to the Philippines to give to kids with special needs in orphanages and to the poor who can't afford such things. We will pick up around Tokyo and Kanagawa area. Can't pay cash-on-delivery (chakubarai) fees. We are concentrating our collection around Yokohama and can go as far as Chiba or Saitama. No deadline so please spread the word if you know someone who has any of these items. Give Kids A Chance. rshiroiwa[at]yahoo.com
See some items that have already been donated.
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Often these charities cannot afford the cost of having the item shipped, so you may incur some costs when you send your items. However, the idea that people who really need your used items -- people who might not be able to have what you are trying to get rid of unless you make this small effort -- are going to be able to make good use of them might help you justify the cost to yourself.
If you know of any charities or organizations that are not on the list, please let me know and I will add them.
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Donations to China for Earthquake Fund
This is a message from the Association of Chinese Students in the University of Tsukuba:
Given the recent unfortunate event in China (a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan area last Monday May 12), the Association of Chinese Students in the University of Tsukuba has organized a donation-collecting event within the Tsukuba area. This Saturday, they
are going to be in Ninomiya House room #3308 from 7 pm to 9 pm to collect donations. Those people who want to support the earthquake victims in China, please stop by. Any amount will be welcomed. Even with 100 yen, you are offering a bit of warmth for those who are in need. (Please check out the association website if you can read Chinese.)
If the schedule is inconvenient to you but you still want to help, please make your donation by depositing money to the Association of Chinese Students or the Red Cross Japan. Please find below the
information about both donation accounts:
1. Red Cross Japan (by the post office)
Account number: 00110-2-5606
Account name: 日本赤十字社 (Nihon Sekijyuujisha)
For more details please check this URL:
http://www.jrc.or.jp/sanka/help/news/1394.html
2. Association of Chinese Students in the University of Tsukuba (by Joyo Bank)
Branch: 研究学園都市 (kenkyugakuentoshi)
Account #: 2995843
Account name: Tsukuba daigaku chuugoku ryugakusei gakuyukai
After you make the deposit please notify the Association by email (acssut[AT]gmail.com) with all the information about the deposit.
As far as I checked over the internet there are some other donation methods in Japan such as Yahoo Wallet. Please check them out to find the most convenient method for you.
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Help the Victims of the Snowstorm in China
The Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in University of Tsukuba are collecting donations to help victims of the snowstorm in China. Please see the details below and forward this message to others who might be able to help.
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As you have already heard, the unexpected snow, the heaviest in five decades in many places, has been falling in China's eastern, central and southern regions for almost three weeks. It has caused deaths, building collapses, blackouts, traffic accidents and livestock and crop losses. About 100 million people have been affected, about 150,000 houses collapsed, power lines are damaged, many provinces and cities do not have electricity supply, and parts of the country have ground to a halt as the weather causes widespread chaos to railways, roads and airports.
Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in University of Tsukuba proposes the donation from the whole society to help the snowstorm victims in China.
As we are living in Tsukuba, we might not be able to offer direct aids, but there are many alternative things we can do, as long as we care for victims.
1. Please forward the message to your friends, your community or group email lists, post this message on your own blog, post it on the BBS forums you go to. Try to let everybody around you know, no matter they are Chinese or not.
2. Donate : Bank account as follows:
銀行名称：常陽銀行 (Joyo bank)
支 店 名：研究学園都市支店 (Kenkyu Gakuen Toshi Branch)
口座番号：2995843
受取人（カタカナ）：ツクバダイガクチュウゴクリュウガクセイガクユウカイ
受取人（漢字）:筑波大学中国留学生学友会
After donation, please send your information such as names, affiliation, phone number, donated time and amount to this e-mail address: acssut[AT]gmail.com.
Donation Usage:We will remit the donation to The China Charity Federation (CCF) by Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Japan and Chinese Embassy in Japan. All the information about this donation will be published on the official site of Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in University of Tsukuba.
Contact: acssut[AT]gmail.com, 080-6669-2388 (Jiajun Gu)
Xuejun Liu
Chairman
Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in University of Tsukuba
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Kasumigaura Bird Rescue Meeting: Feb 28
There will be a Kasumigaura Bird Rescue meeting on Thursday, February 28 from 8:45pm at Hot Stuff. Avi and Maurice will both be there to discuss this problem and look for solutions.
To find out more about the Kasumigaura Bird Rescue operation, please click on the following links.
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Red Feathers ( AKAI HANE , 赤い羽根) Symbolize Japan`s Most Famous Annual Charity Drive, and the season, as well
Red Feathers are given to anyone who donates some spare change during the October Akai Hane Charity Drive
At the beginning of October each year, while on your way into a department store, shopping mall or station, you might have had to walk by a small group of men, women and maybe even children, who have donation boxes hanging down from around their necks, and are enthusiastically calling out for donations. If you DID drop some money ( even a single coin) into their box, you would have gotten in return a little red feather with some adhesive tape on one end with which it could be stuck onto you shirt.
A piece of adhesive tape makes it possible to stick the feather on your shirt or jacket
And anytime during the month of October, you will find donation boxes strategically placed next to cash registers at many shops, which have the same red feathers, which you can take if you make a donation.
Giving out red feathers to anyone who makes a donation- outside a shopping mall on the first weekend of October 2010
These feathers are the symbols of Japan`s October charity drive called the AKAI HANE KYODO BOKIN (赤い羽共同募金), which has has been collecting money for Japan`s charitable community chest since 1947 ( as an affiliate of The United Way International). It was at the urging of an American priest, Father Edward Joseph Flannagan, that such an American/European style charitable fund was created, just after WWII when Japan was teeming with people in need of assistance.
Someone who must have made TWO donations!
And though in the more than 50 years which have gone by since the charity`s creation Japan has grown into one of the world`s more prosperous and equitable countries, there are still PLENTY of people who need your help. Wheel-chairs or seeing-eye dogs, for example, are not cheap to come by!
That is why, if you DO see the folks giving out the red feathers, or the little boxes by the register with the feathers on top, you might want to give a little something.
I was surprised to hear, that besides making roadside and by- the- cash- register donations, most Japanese families give 400 or 500 yen per family to the AKAI HANE BOKIN drive, through their neighborhood committees.
Why the red feathers?
The origin of the custom of giving out the red feathers to those who make charitable donations is interesting and IRONIC.
According to Akai Hane Homepage, the use of the red feather is based on the idea that in some countries, the feather is a symbol of courage and valor.
You might be able to understand what they mean by this more easilly if you just think about the English expression- PUT A FEATHER IN YOUR CAP- which means that you have done something good, or done a good job- something that will be helpfull to you in the future as an achievement on your personal record.
It is this notion- of having done a good deed and earning some merit for it, which was apparently behind the idea of giving out the feathers to those who give to Japan`s charitable community chest.
The reason that I find this ironic is that the ORIGIN of this English expression ( and the symbolic meaning of a feather) can be traced to American Indian braves who would build up merit, and thus get another feather in their cap ( headdress)- when they took the scalp from ( killed) an enemy! Not a very suitable image for a charity drive!
The origin of the expression- A feather in ones cap probably lies in the Native American custom of adding a feather to a headdress after performing some brave deed
And for those concerned about wild birds being killed for these dainty merit badges, rest at ease! The feathers do not come from some rare or exotic red birds. They are merely dyed chicken feathers. Still, maybe its time to find another symbol for Japan`s great charity drive.
Here is the AKAI HANE KYODO BOKIN`s English languge home-page:
http://www.akaihane.or.jp/english/index.html
And since the red feathers appear each year in October, it is not surprising that they have become a symbol of the season. In fact AKAI HANE ( red feather) is an official haiku KIGO ( seasonal key word) signifying autumn. Instead of AKAI HANE, AI NO HANE ( feather of love) can also be used.
And since these feathers are a flashy sign announcing to everyone that you have done a good deed, their image in a poem can carry various other nuances besides the time of the year.
Here is an example by the haiku poet Kakurai Akio (加倉井秋を):
赤い羽根つけてどこへも行かぬ母 ( AKAI HANE TSUKETE DOKO NI MO IKANU HAHA)
which I translate as:
Mother, though not going out anywhere, sticks on a red feather
which tells us not only what the seasonal setting, but also suggests alot about the mother`s character.
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