LOS ALAMITOS, CA — One of the best kept secrets on the Los Alamitos High School campus is Fold School Philantrophy Club (sometimes called Fold Philantrophy Club for short), a place where members indulge in crafts and charitable activity. Every Wednesday in Room 622, Fold Philantrophy Club meets to fold and string origami cranes. These crane strands are later sold, and all proceeds go to the Child Life Department at CHOC Children’s Hospital. Money raised for the hospital goes towards emotionally supporting patients through activities and games.

Jackie Ng, the original club founder and a Los Al alumni, says inspiration for starting Fold Philantrophy Club stemmed from her fourth grade teacher and the book “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes,” a story based on the legend of Sadako Sasaki.

“My fourth grade teacher always had her students read a book called ‘Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.’ The year prior to my fourth grade year, my teacher and her class decided to sell origami crane strands to raise money for the local CHOC Children’s Hospital, and she had continued the tradition ever since. I participated in the club for the rest of elementary school. When I got to high school, I wanted to restart that initiative, which started the Fold School Philantrophy Club,” Ng said through an email. 

Fold Philantrophy Club tries to promote hope as a testament to Sadako Sasaki, a victim of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Due to radiation exposure, Sasaki spent most of her childhood in the hospital. Legend has it that before her death, Sasaki folded origami cranes while in the hospital, hoping to create 1,000. Japanese legend says that folding 1,000 origami cranes grants someone one wish – in Sasaki’s case, the wish of a longer life. Although Sasaki later died of leukemia, she was committed to folding 1,000 origami cranes to fulfill her wish. Some sources claim that Sasaki folded well over 1,000 cranes, while others say she only folded 644. Either way, Sasaki is a symbol of hope throughout Japan and the world, the same hope that Fold Philantrophy Club is trying to emanate to patients at CHOC Children’s Hospital.

Fundraising done by Fold Philantrophy Club supports CHOC Children’s Hopsital on a myriad of fronts, from maintaining the hospital’s transport helicopter to music therapy for patients. The club hopes to meet the $1,000 fundraising goal that was set by former club president Jackie Ng five years ago.

“If anyone wants to buy strands of cranes, we have a booth at Open House in March, and we will be selling them there. You donate $5, and you can pick out a strand of cranes. If you want to do a bigger amount, we’re cool with that as well,” said Sam Ito, this year’s club chair. 

Fold Philanthropy Club also has a website where people can make donations directly to CHOC Children’s Hospital without having to buy a strand of cranes.

The general sentiment surrounding the club is best put by Ito.

“I thought [Fold Philantrophy Club] was just a really beautiful way to try to give back to the people,” she said. 

Fold Philantrophy Club is more than just creating strands of origami cranes, it is also about helping the local community’s most vulnerable. The legacy of hope possessed by Sadako Sasaki lives on through Fold Philantrophy Club at Los Alamitos High School.