Published 2011-05-03T20:55:00Z”/>

Alexander Seymour

With finals week approaching, Chico State efforts for Japan fundraising are winding down.

While A.S. coordinated fundraising focused on collecting money from the campus, the Japanese Friendship Organization, which does not share funds with A.S. and donates to the American Red cross, has included community wide fundraising, said JFusion President Saya Mishima.

JFusion, whose efforts are directed under the Japanese Friendship Organization which consists of 40 to 50 members, is proud of the amount that has been collected so far, which was more than $7,000 on April 7, she said.

“Actually, we are pretty certain that we have already met the May 5 goal of $10,000, but we won’t have exact figures until May 5,” said JFusion Vice President Sana Takaoka.

The community focus that the Japanese Friendship organization took allowed the organization to cast a wide fundraising net in Chico, with individual community events like the Butte County Library Sale collecting around $2,000, Takaoka said.

“When I ordered T-shirts to sell at the Thursday Market I didn’t really expect to sell so many,” she said. “We raised about $1,000 from that.”

The fundraising will take a hiatus for finals week, but JFusion is considering how it can continue donation efforts next semester, Mishima said.

As of April 27, efforts coordinated by the Associated Students, which includes the Freshman Leadership Organization and the Interfraternity Council, have managed to raise more than $400 for the Japanese Red Cross, said JayPinderpal Virdee, A.S. commissioner of community affairs.

“I think it’s good that students are trying to work together instead of competing over donations,” he said.

The final day planned for A.S. fundraising was Sunday, after which all donations were be sent to the Japanese Red Cross, he said.

The student coalition decided to make April the last week for fundraising, Virdee said.

“Finals week is coming up and students have to think about their priorities,” he said.

With the pass of time and school obligations keeping students busy some may be forgetting about Japan.

“People are starting to forget a little bit about the tsunami,” she said. “Around one billion has been raised internationally, but the estimated damages to Japan are over 100 billion.”

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<strong>Alexander Seymour can be reached at</strong>

<em>[email protected]</em>