USJF | Community News

USJF-USJLP launch fundraiser to restore Seattle Peace Park statue

Written by USJF | Mar 1, 2024 6:50:00 PM
The United States-Japan Foundation and its US-Japan Leadership Program have launched a matching fundraiser challenge to help restore the stolen statue of a renowned Hiroshima atomic bomb victim in Seattle.
 
Sometime in the night between July 11th and 12th, the statue of Sadako Sasaki was stolen from Peace Park in Seattle. Sadako was a Hiroshima survivor who died at the age of 12 from radiation poisoning. She became famous for popularizing the image of folding origami cranes as a symbol of peace.
 
The USJF-USJLP fundraiser aims to raise a total of $20,000 to help build a new statue. We will match from our endowment up to $10,000 in personal donations made to our GoFundMe page:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/restore-stolen-hiroshima-victim-statue-to-seattle-peace-park
 
Proceeds will go the University Friends Meeting, the Seattle Quaker organization that installed the statue in 1990, and is working to restore it.
 
In addition to raising money, Seattle Quakers are encouraging communities to hold "foldraisers," asking supporters to make origami cranes that can decorate Peace Park until the statue is restored.
 
The USJLP will hold a foldraiser at its Seattle conference, running from July 27-August 3, and will deliver the cranes to Peace Park at the end of the week.