Category: Earthquake Relief

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.

Birdville school partnering with Sister Cities for Earthquake Relief Fund

At a full assembly of students at The Academy at West Birdville last week,  5th grader Jacob Cameron and his team consisting of other students,  Juan Bravo, John Burgess, Juan Chariez, Oscar Ibarra and Alan Nunez, presented a check for $381.81 to Fort Worth Sister Cities’ Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund.  Jacob spearheaded an effort to involve his school in raising money to help Japan after seeing reports of the devastation from the devastating earthquake in March. Six hundred sixty (660) elementary students at The Academy were asked to bring coins to school to add to the relief fund established by Sister Cities for a month long campaign.  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. Jacob and his team collected coins every Thursday.  Some students gave up their afternoon snack to donate and some gave up their field trip to Lego Land.  Jacob also single-handedly created a video to motivate his fellow students to help out that can be seen on You Tube and the school’s website. “Sister Cities is proud to have students like Jacob who are reaching out to other parts of the world with acts of kindness. That’s what Sister Cities is all about – we are citizen diplomats, even 5th graders ,” said Winston Fuller, Chair of the Nagaoka committee of Sister Cities. “Fort Worth has had a long relationship with Nagaoka and we are looking forward to celebrating our 25th anniversary next year when we travel there for the Hanabi festival,” said Fuller. Fort Worth Sister Cities has now 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.

Fort Worth, Texas – Sister Cities to man booth at Japanese Festival

In an effort to raise funds for Japan’s earthquake relief fund, Fort Worth Sister Cities was invited by the Japanese Society of Fort Worth to participate in the upcoming Japanese Spring Festival at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden taking place this weekend,  April 16 and 17. Sister Cities will man a booth to educate the community and collect donations to be sent to Fort Worth’s sister city, Nagaoka, Japan.  Although not directly affected by the earthquake and tsunamis, Nagaoka is expected to house thousands of evacuees and has set up evacuation centers.  The money will be given to the Japan Red Cross Society. “The people of Fort Worth have developed hundreds if not thousands of friendships with the people of Japan since this relationship began in 1987 and want to help now. Since the earthquake in March we have raised nearly $20,000 which will be extremely helpful as Japan rebuilds,” said Brad Mahon, Chairman of the Board of Sister Cities. The Spring Festival features traditional Japanese dance and music, martial arts, swordsmanship, bonsai, ikebana and tea ceremonies. There will also be an art show and sale, a pottery demonstration and sale, as well as demonstrations of calligraphy, origami and haiku. Event hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for children 4-12 and children under 4 are admitted free. The Botanic Garden is located at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd. Anyone wishing to contribute to the Japanese relief fund can send a check to:

Fort Worth Sister Cities International 610 Grove Street Fort Worth, TX  76102

Japan Earthquake Relief Fund

Or you can donate online at www.fwsistercities.org.  All donations will be sent to the Japan Red Cross Society and are 100% tax deductible.