This month’s DG message will focus on Cranes for Hope. At the 2nd quarter President’s meeting in December, one of the club Presidents requested I share my story of why I’m asking clubs to fold 20 paper cranes as part of D5840 Cranes for Hope initiative for mental health.
My story begins back in March of 2016 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. With hearing such unexpected news, my mind became filled with ideas I had no control over. During my cancer treatment I was introduced to meditation in the form of origami. Folding these paper objects allowed my mind to focus on what’s in front of me and removed any other bad thoughts from my mind. It was a mental exercise I had not realized I needed.
Then in August of 2017 I had the opportunity to visit our sister Rotary club in Takamatsu, Japan. Five members of my RC of San Antonio North Central took the journey with me where we celebrated fellowship and good will with our Rotary friends in Japan. They took us to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial where I learned the story of Sadako Sasaki. This young girl survived the atomic bomb but was later diagnosed with leukemia. She learned of the Japanese legend where if you fold 1000 paper cranes your wish would be granted. She vowed to fold 1000 cranes for her wish of good health. You can read more about her story here.
Most recently, the story of 1000 cranes kept resonating with me. I saw a beautiful installation in Fargo, North Dakota after attending a Zone Institute in Minneapolis. I heard the story again in a book I read Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I also saw it on the final episode of the Netflix show Dead to Me. Needless to say, I was surrounded by these paper cranes and was inspired by what it represented. I knew what it had meant to me, so I decided to ask D5840 clubs to fold 20 paper cranes this Rotary year as a wish to bring mental health awareness to our communities as part of our RI President’s goal for Mental Health.
We will collect all folded paper cranes by early March so we can collaborate with our D5840 Interact students to help create the final installation. Our dedication ceremony will be in May 2024 at a location to be determined in honor of Mental Health Awareness month.
Example of a 1000 paper crane installation at the El Progreso Memorial Library in Uvalde, TX.
