2022.03.26 Sat | BLOG
Charity Campaign “Origami Kids Challenge 2022”
Origami Cranes for good causes.
Join our challenge to help families in need!
Origami Kids – one of the programs managed by Hub Park – focuses on families with children. We will hold its third annual online charity campaign, “Origami Kids Challenge 2022,” on social media throughout the month of April, 2022. This is for people of all ages and backgrounds and is an easy-to-join volunteer opportunity as well as an opportunity for people to learn about Japanese culture.
🌸ABOUT Origami Kids Challenge:
Fold origami cranes, take photos, and post them on social media with the hashtag #OrigamiKidsChallenge. As a result, meals and books will be delivered to children in need in the U.S. through Hub Park, with the help of sponsors and individual donations.
Learn about social issues in the U.S. through the Japanese cultural tradition of paper cranes, and contribute to society as a member of the community. It will be an opportunity for people in the U.S. and beyond to experience the traditions of origami and the thousand folded paper cranes of Japanese culture. During the month-long Origami Kids Challenge, we encourage everyone from across the U.S. and around the world as we work together to fold a thousand paper cranes!
🌸ABOUT Origami Cranes and Senbazuru:
The Origami Crane is a design that is considered to be the most classic of all Japanese origami. A thousand origami cranes strung together is called senbazuru (千羽鶴), meaning “a thousand cranes.” It was believed that if one folded 1000 origami cranes, one’s wish would come true. It has also become a symbol of hope and healing during challenging times.
🌸BACKGROUND: Learn about Food Insecurity and Lack of Access to Books
According to a report published by the United States Department of Agriculture(*1), about 11 percent of households face food insecurity. Moreover, COVID-19 has led to an increase in food insecurity, especially among households with young children(*2) and the number of food-insecure children increased from 10 million in 2019 to 12 million in 2020.
Meanwhile, according to the National Center on Poverty (2009), 42% of American children – 31 million- grow up in families that lack the means to cover such basic needs as rent, childcare, food, and transportation. For these families, books are luxuries that are out of reach. Many studies show that making books more accessible to children dramatically improves their academic achievement. However, 80% of preschool programs serving low-income children have no children’s books. Hub Park supports the idea that a backpack filled with books not only inspires enthusiasm for reading, but also sends an empowering message to the children that they matter, and that people care about their future. (*3)
This charity campaign “Origami Kids Challenge” is our action to help people who are food insecure or facing difficulty. We started this fundraising campaign in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we successfully donated more than we planned in 2020 and 2021. This year, in 2022, we are expanding our support and plan to donate to children who lack access to books.
We can help children in need by folding origami cranes and all you need is a piece of paper. Please join us to help people together and every small contribution and help raising awareness matters. We encourage you to invite your family and friends at school or work, regardless of ages and backgrounds!
🌸CRANES FOR GOOD CAUSES:
“1 Origami Crane＝$1＝10 meals”
Hub Park and sponsor organizations will donate $1 to Feeding America for every crane that is uploaded to social media with the hashtag #Origamikidschallenge. As a result, 10 meals will be provided for every $1 donated to children and families who are food insecure. The more photos posted, the more food will be secured to help end hunger nationwide.
Books and Art Supplies for Kids
Hub Park is excited to announce that this year, we also plan to make donations to Inspired Child which provides books and art supplies to young children who lack access to books and education.
（Image from Inspired Child Website）
🌸DATES: Fri. April 1 – Sat. April. 30, 2022
🌸How to participate
Step 1：Make an origami crane(s)
Step 2：Take a photo(s) with or without people
Step 3：Post your photo(s) on your social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) using the hashtag #Origamikidschallenge
＊We welcome you to tag Hub Park （＠Hub Park / #Hubpark）and share our effort in your posts!
◆Please make sure that your post is open for public view so that we can count the total number of posts at the end of the challenge period.
◆You can upload as many posts as you like.
◆Please note that we will be using your posts on our official website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
◆If you have a lot of cranes in your picture, please indicate the number in a comment to help us count, as we make donations based on the number of origami cranes posted. Thank you!
🌸Origami Kids Challenge UPDATES:
We will be updating our progress on our official SNS accounts. Like and follow us!
Facebook @hubpark.org
Facebook Event Page https://www.facebook.com/events/666751281231340
Instagram @hubpark_washingtondc
Twitter @HubPark3
🌸 FOR SCHOOLS, GROUPS and BUSINESS Participants:
Join us by organizing an origami class/event in your organization and post your origami crane photos with your school/group/business name! All sorts of new ideas are welcome and you can contact Hub Park using this form or email to: info@hubpark.org.
Examples of Past Group Participants
- Japanese language classes and activities hold origami classes and uploaded zoom screenshots
- Preschoolers, teachers and staff in US and Japan uploaded beautifully arranged pictures
- Highschool students organized an event to compete the number of cranes among five schools
- Origami artists participated and promoted #Origamikidschallenge on their social media
- Restaurants sponsored this challenge and one decorated its restaurant with 200 cranes
🌸DONATE:
We also welcome your donations to our challenge as Hub Park uses its limited budget to donate to organizations we support.
Paypal
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=P3RTSEBJ27CLL
Facebook (Facebook doesn’t take fees and 100% of your donation goes to Hub Park)
https://www.facebook.com/donate/1253508531724165/
＊A small portion will be used to further Hub Park’s non-profit activities.
＊Hub Park is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit and your donation is tax deductible. Please contact Hub Park if you want a receipt.
＊Please contact Hub Park (info@hubpark.org) if your organization is interested in our sponsor packages.
🌸OUR GOAL：
In 2020, we virtually collected more than 1,000 cranes and donated $1,023 (10,230 meals).
In 2021, we virtually collected more than 4,900 cranes and donated about $2,972 (29,722 meals).
In 2022, our first goal is to achieve a $2,000 (20,000 meals) donation to Feeding America. If we exceed the goal, our next goal is to donate whatever we have left to Inspired Child to provide children in need with books and art supplies.
🌸Origami Crane Instructions:
There are different kinds of origami cranes and we welcome all kinds for Origami Kids Challenge. Here are instructions for the traditional origami cranes:
Diagram（Credit: OrigamiUSA）
https://origamiusa.org/diagrams/crane
YouTube（Credit: Nippon Origami Association）
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNEY-JYPv5w
☞You can find different kinds of instruction videos on Youtube!
🌸ORGANIZER：Origami Kids by Hub Park 501(c) (3)
Hub Park enhances the quality of life of Japanese residents in the US by bridging Japanese and American communities.
Origami Kids is one of the programs that is managed by Hub Park. This program focuses on families with children. Raising children in a foreign country can be a very isolating process for some, and language barriers makes it harder. Thus, we hold events to get connected and disseminate useful information related to children. Origami Kids is based on our wish that all children of diverse backgrounds can develop their own sense of self, like origami’s many colors and infinite ways to fold.
🌸WE ARE DONATING TO:
◎Feeding America
A nation-wide hunger-relief organization, working to connect people with food and end hunger. Ten meals will be provided for every $1 donated to children and families who are food insecure.
https://www.feedingamerica.org/
◎Inspired Child
A non-profit working to improve the quality of early childhood education for children ages 0 to 5 living in Washington DC’s most economically disadvantaged communities. Fifty dollars puts a backpack with books and art supplies directly into the hands of a child.
🌸OUR SPONSORS
Hub Park is supported by the following sponsors and individual donors.
＊Some donors wish to remain anonymous.
Notes
*1. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, Matthew P. Rabbitt, Christian A. Gregory, and Anita Singh. 2019. Household Food Security in the United States in 2018, ERR-270. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
*2. Bauer, Lauren. 2020. “The COVID-19 Crisis Has Already Left too Many Children Hungry in America. Retrieved at: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/05/06/the-covid-19-crisis-has-already-left-too-many-children-hungry-in-america
*3. Inspired Child Website https://inspired-child.org/bookdonations
Written by ORIGAMI KIDS