They could have spent the first night of spring break doing almost anything else, but instead, a group of TJSL 1Ls was out on the streets raising money for the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan.
Last Monday, 1L Lance Henry stood up in Professor Brenda Simon’s Property Law class and asked everyone in the room if they would be interested in helping raise money for the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan.
That was the genesis of Project Japan where teams of TJSL students were in the East Village and Gaslamp Quarter Friday night – wearing t-shirts and carrying plastic bins, each with the name of a city in Japan.
It was a contest to see which of the teams could collect the most money in a two-hour period.
"The participants involved in the contest were all very enthusiastic about the underlying reason for the project," said Lance Henry. "Japan was a complete catastrophe, and as one student said to me in response to this project, 'borders shouldn’t negate the fact that we are all brothers in humanity.'”
“I can’t believe this all came together!,” said Sara Denton, one of Henry’s co-organizers.
Team Kyoto, with Carrina MacGregor, Brandon Makowski and Shea Connelly collected donations at the corner of 5th and Island in the Gaslamp and found plenty of people willing to help – they raised $158.80 as television cameras recorded everything.
Team Tokyo, 1Ls Josh Pierce, Nastaran Parvizi and Alyssa Black were the winners – collecting $252.17 and the grand total collected in two hours was $1,355.35!
"I was ecstatic about the results," said Lance Henry. "From the start of this project I have received so much support from students and staff. I credit all the success to them."
All of the money goes to the American Red Cross relief efforts in Japan.
“We are still in shock at how much money we were able to rally and raise in such a short period of time,” said co-organizer 1L Anastasia Korte. “We are so lucky to have had all of you there to support such a deserving cause and we cannot thank you enough for your help during the event. We understand that there are plenty of other things you could have been doing on the first Friday of your Spring Break and we truly appreciated your time and smiling energetic faces at the event.”
