Tears were shed and hearts were broken as news of Japan’s 8.9 magnitude tremor and tsunami swept the media March 11. Students at Foothill and De Anza Colleges immediately knew they wanted to help.

“People were holding my hand and asking me if I was going to do something,” the chairman of Foothill’s Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month planning committee Tristan Paule said.

Paule and a student coalition of 20 volunteers donated their time to schedule events for the API Heritage Month in April, hoping to raise support for disaster relief in Japan.

Help Japan, the unofficial name of this student coalition, primarily consists of Foothill Japanese international students, but anyone can join the Facebook group and become part of the effort. They have also created about 2,000 paper cranes, and ordered t-shirts and wristbands as gifts to thank those who donate money.

Without prior print media and advertising other than word of mouth and Facebook, API had a full house for their first event on April 4, where they sold student artwork and offered student performances. In one hour they raised $1,200.

The second event which API and Help Japan put together was the banquet and fundraiser held at the Foothill Campus Center Dining Room followed by the premiere of Barber, an original student production at the Lohman Theatre by Yusuke Soi, a theatre tech major.

The banquet was student run and sustained solely by sponsors and volunteers; the food provided at the banquet was entirely 100 percent donated by Masa Sushi, Nam Vietnamese Restaurant and various other restaurants from the area. Dessert was hand prepared by Ikuo Miyama, a student at Foothill, a pastry chef student.

Since then, API and Help Japan have raised over $8,000, and are searching for an organization unto which 100 percent of their money will go to help Japan. In the meantime, they are presenting them to Hiroshi Inomata, the consul general of Japan in San Francisco.

At every API event, respective tables have  been set up for donations. Students can also go to the bookstore and donate money by all methods of payment; checks, credit card and cash.

De Anza will follow with a benefit concert for Japan. Scheduled to appear are dance crews Supreme Soul and Kaba Modern, Get the Funk On and a host of other celebrity performers.

“We have 400 seats, so hopefully we fill up the arena,” said Zara Aslam, a public health major.

All proceeds will go to Japan, Aslan said.

The launch event was held May 2, with the actual event to take place May 12 at the Visual and Performing Arts Center from 6 to 9 p.m.

SWEETS RELIEF – Foothill’s Ikuo Miyama, soon to be pastry chef, made desserts for the banquet including chocolate cake and caramel mousse. (Helen Koh/LA VOZ WEEKLY)

THANKS-A-GAMI – Foothill’s Asian Pacific Islander committee created over 2,000 paper cranes to thank donators and contributors to Japan. (Helen Koh/LA VOZ WEEKLY)

BENEFIT (Mitchell Winestock/LA VOZ WEEKLY)