"Thousand Crane Projects For A Hopeful Future" is a nonprofit organization, the mission of which is to extend a helping hand to children in the world by utilizing thousands of paper cranes recycled to provide notebooks for educational purposes. These paper cranes had been folded by people of all generations and nationalities as a symbol of hope for a peaceful future and sent to various monuments throughout Japan to honor and lament the lives of innocent citizens which were lost in World War II.

In Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park stands the statue of a girl holding the image of a paper crane. This young girl, named Sadako, died of leukemia because of the harmful effects of A-bomb radiation. In the hospital she had folded paper cranes wishing for her recovery. Her story has moved countless people throughout the world and the paper crane has become a symbol of peace and hope.

Many tons of paper cranes are received and displayed at Japanese monuments each year. These cranes had been folded, one by one, with prayer and empathy for war victims and wishes for a hopeful future. "Thousand Crane Projects For A Hopeful Future" has been gathering these cranes and recycling them into notebooks which can be shared with children who need them. Thus, the peace monuments are not the cranes' final destination. They can "fly out" into the world again and continue to carry their message of peace and hope.

Essentially, this is how the project works:

• Old paper cranes are gathered from monuments throughout Japan.
• Cranes are recycled and made into notebooks. (Presently, only the notebook covers are made from recycled cranes.)
• People are asked to buy a pair of notebooks and donate one to the Project.
• Donated notebooks are sent to children who need them.

Detailed information on where notebooks go and who receives them may be found on the Project's website.

Questions can be directed to the Project's email address:mirai@npo-jp.net

It is the hope of the many volunteers who have made this project possible that their efforts will contribute to a spirit of peace, cooperation and understanding among the peoples of the world.

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