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天地無情人間愛心未滅 日月同輝世上慈善爲本

Cameron Beason 和Jane Tang

      4月2日在克里夫蘭亞洲商場內,舉辦了由兩位高中生發起的幫助日本賑災義演活動,他們是Jane Tang (湯年發第二個女兒)和Cameron Beason(我的鄰居,他也是我兒子的好朋友)。在3月27日晩上Cameron Beason打電話給我,他説他想爲日本賑災做一次義演活動,她和Jane Tang是這次活動的發起人。我非常高興,年輕人有抱負有熱情,主動參與,我答應爲他們做宣傳。本報在第一版面免費爲他們做了廣吿。

      活動當天Cameron Beason全家五口人出動,他們在現場父親攝像,母親幫忙收捐款,哥哥弟弟在現場設立攤位出售禮品,Jane Tang和姐姐Ying Tang表演中國傳統舞蹈,還有Jane Tang的一群跳街舞A-PoPhasis的朋友,一起參加了這次活動。當日他們還邀請了克里夫蘭其他亞裔組織,其中有日本Daiko鼓隊,日本舞蹈隊和武術隊等人。

     3月11日,日本發生芮氏規模9.0的東北關東大地震,罹難者逾1萬, 包括行蹤不明者則超過2萬7千,輻射危機威脅東半部地區,東京市容未變,但民眾心境已非。
     自地震海嘯和核能電廠事件之後,災難牽動了全球人。有倆位高中學生Cameron Beason Twinsburg高中生和Jane Tang Solon 高中學生,他倆策劃和組織了在亞洲商場舉辦了義務演出,年輕人有抱負爲熱情主動參與日本地震捐款,尤其是Cameron Beason全家五人參與了這次活動。
    這次參加義演的演員有50多人,參與與觀看演出的有一百多名亞裔人士,其中華裔約佔一半。本次活動以收愛心人士捐款$1200多美元。Cameron Beason已經將錢送到了紅十字會。
　　發起組織這個活動,一方面是幫助日本災民募集善款,另一方面也看到了我們下一代人積極參與社區活動的熱情,有助于在美國的亞裔社區互相團結。

   Cameron Beason　他的母親是日本人,母親爲兒子組織這次活動十分高興,以下是Cameron Beason和她母親的感言:

BY:Cameron Beason
My main motivation for planning this event was primarily the fact that I'm very proud of my Japanese heritage and I really wanted to do something to help the disaster victims in Japan. I continued to hear stories on the news of the devastation in Japan and it further motivated me to help out. However, I did not just want to simply donate money. I wanted to do something more that would involve the entire community and I realized that I had all the means to make this event happen. I came to Jane Tang, a friend who is also a fellow dance crew member, with the idea and she was also willing to help organize the benefit. We decided on an evening of Asian themed performances to both raise awareness of the disaster and raise money. Over the weeks of planning, I made numerous phone calls and sent out many emails in order to book performances for the night. My mother, the performers, and Jane along with many others played a huge role in the event as well. It would not have been as big of a success without them. By the end of the night of the event, we raised a grand total of $1,200 from collecting monetary donations and by selling event t-shirts. The funds were donated to the American Red Cross this Friday.

Hello from Cameron's proud mom,
I was very happy that the kids managed to hold a successful benefit that raised $1200 for the American Red Cross. Cameron has always been proud of his Japanese heritage, and I think at times, he seems more Japanese than myself. As a parent, it always fills your heart with pride when your child does an act of kindness.
I had many nice comments from attendees, friends, and family who thought that what these kids did for the Japan relief efforts speaks volumes about their character. What a great way to show their peers that they can make a difference in the lives of people who are in need of help.It was very nice that Mame Daiko, Sho Jo Ji Dancers, and CCCC Yin Tang were able to stay for the entire benefit and see Cameron, Jane, and their friends perform with the dance crew. A-PoPhasis has some serious dance moves!
Let's hope that the people of Japan recover quickly. My heartfelt thanks to the benefit performers, Asia Plaza, Yellowtail for their generous food donation, Cable Nine, and especially Erie Chinese Journal for the speedy ad on the front page. Everyone deserves a pat on the back for making the benefit for Japan a success!
Other performers included the CCCCA Yin Tang Dance Group,Sho Jo Ji Japanese Dancers and the A-PoPhasis Dance Crew.