For Immediate Release

Ten Japanese students living in Oka

COLLEGE HARRINGTON DU CANADA TO HOST FUNDRAISER FOR JAPAN RELIEF

Oka, Quebec, (Thursday, March 16, 2011)–College Harrington du Canada announced today that they will host a fundraiser on March 26, 2011 in support of the victims of the disaster in Japan.  College Harrington du Canada  is a private school that specializes in hockey and has student–athletes from 20 countries including Japan in both the high school and CEGEP levels.

Among the student body there are 10 Japanese students ranging from 14 to 19 years old who reside at the school.  According to the school’s president, John Keightley, “these boys along with our entire student body have asked the school administration to assist them in building a fundraiser for Japan relief.

The fundraiser will take place Saturday at 18:00 pm and will center around the College AAA hockey game where two of the Japanese students play for the College Harrington du Canada school team.  The game will take place at the Center of Excellence in Boisbriand.

The Japanese Canadian Cultural Center of Montreal will participate in the event.  All proceeds will be donated to the center in conjunction with the Red Cross.

The mother of one of the college’s students is a member of the Tokyo Disaster Medical Assistance Team who as a nurse has been dispatched to the heart of the disaster area in Miyagi.  “The report that we have is that the hockey rinks are shut down throughout the mainland of Japan due to restrictions on energy consumption” stated Keightley.  Furthermore, “children living in the affected area are not able to attend school until further notice”.

Japan Relief

Considering this information along with the fear of an impending nuclear disaster, College Harrington du Canada announced today that they have formally offered Japanese officials that any hockey player who has been affected by the disaster will be given room and board, school and hockey training at HCC, free of charge, until things have returned to normal in their homeland.  The school is actively looking for sponsors to help these students secure airfare to leave Japan.

All proceeds of the fundraising event will go to Japan Relief.

Japan Relief

Red Cross responds to massive earthquake in Japan.

On Friday March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan. This has triggered 4 metre waves in Japan and tsunami warnings across the Pacific coastline. Thousands of people are reported dead, and many more are injured or missing. The earthquake has caused fires and severe damage to buildings, leaving millions of households without electricity.

The Japanese Red Cross has deployed medical tents and over 80 medical teams to the affected area. Volunteers are on the ground providing first aid and search and rescue operations. The Red Cross has started Restoring Family Links activities and emergency relief planning is underway.

The Canadian Red Cross is monitoring the situation closely and has emergency supplies and trained emergency response personnel ready to be deployed for japan relief.