2011-05-11 10:50

AHHS partnering with Sister Cities for Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund

This Thursday, May 12 at 10:00 a.m. a student representing the entire student body of Arlington Heights High School will present a check for $500 to Fort Worth Sister Cities’ Nagaoka, Japan youth chair Dianna Alexander, for the Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund. In response to the disaster in Japan, Arlington Heights High School, in collaboration with Fort Worth Sister Cities, collected donations for Fort Worth’s sister city Nagaoka through a campaign called “Jars for Japan”. Each day, Cody Cox, Arlington Heights German teacher, collected change and donations for the relief fund. The funds will be sent to Nagaoka, Japan, Fort Worth’s sister city since 1987, to be used for evacuation centers in Nagaoka, as well as given to the Japanese Red Cross Society. Mr. Cox has a special connection to Nagaoka. He hosted Japanese exchange students and chaperoned an exchange group that traveled to Japan last year. He has been actively involved with Sister Cities for more than eight years and serves as the official international teacher liaison for the high school. “The outpouring of concern for our sister city continues. We are overwhelmed by the response and generosity of students, teachers and citizens of Fort Worth,” said Mae Ferguson, President/CEO of Fort Worth Sister Cities. Fort Worth Sister Cities has raised nearly $20,000 for the earthquake relief fund which will be sent to Nagaoka later this month. The damage caused by the earthquake has become increasingly clear and the total number of victims is still unknown. Uncertainty about the final damage still lingers as does the concern over the nuclear danger.