A wish from city to city
By Nelson Daily Staff
It’s a wish for peace, recovery and rebuilding, sent from residents of Nelson to residents of Onagawa, Japan.
Hundreds of paper cranes, folded by Nelson residents are now available by donation, to raise funds for the community of Onagawa.
Nelson and Oganawa have had a long-standing relationship, with student and cultural exchanges between the two communities dating back many years. The seaside fishing village was ravaged by the earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011.
The idea of folding paper cranes came out of a community meeting held at City Hall on March 16, 2011. Several folding sessions took place at City Hall and the Nelson and District Community Complex over the next week.
In Japan, origami cranes have long been symbolic of good luck, and more recently, world peace. It is said that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish from a crane.
“We wanted to show solidarity with the people of Onagawa, and let them know that someone out there cares about their situation,” says Mayor John Dooley.
An ad hoc committee was formed from the community meetings, and fundraising began.
At a meeting on Monday, March 21, Council unanimously passed a motion to match dollar for dollar, up to a maximum of $10,000, the funds raised during this community initiative.
All proceeds raised through the Origami Crane Fund will go directly to the community of Onagawa.
News reports have stated that as many as 5,000 residents of Onagawa are missing and feared dead.
“We’ve heard that most, if not all, of the children who came to Nelson on exchanges survived. But there is a strong likelihood that their parents did not,” said Mayor Dooley. The schools in Onagawa are on high ground, and school was in session when the tsunami washed through the village.
While Onagawa is not Nelson’s sister city, the two communities share a long history. The Japanese village erected a monument to Lt. Hampton Gray, a Nelson native who was shot down while protecting the village in the last days of the Second World War.
Nelson’s official sister city is Izushi. Almost 500 km from Tokyo, the community suffered some minor damage, and no injuries.
The City of Castlegar has also moved swiftly to support survivors of the earthquake and tsunami. Castlegar Council donated one dollar for every man, woman and child living in the community to their sister city of Embetsu.
How to help Donations to the Origami Crane Fund can be made in person at City Hall, 310 Ward Street, and at the Nelson and District Credit Union at 501 Vernon Street.
If you’d like to fold cranes on your own for the effort, you can drop them off at the front desk of the Community Complex.
Proceeds from ticket sales of a live show by Jude Davison at the Capitol Theatre on Friday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. will be used to aid the community of Onagawa.
