Liverpool parents, students hold fundraiser to pay for Japan trip
Julie Babin crochets one of the items that will be up for auction at the LRHS Japanese exchange art auction on Friday night at ADJA Studio and Gallery on Main Street in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
It will be the first foreign exchange trip for Liverpool high school students since before the pandemic.
And they and their parents are holding a fundraiser on Friday night to help get them there.
Ten students from Liverpool Regional High School are planning a cultural exchange next year with kids from a high school in Yokohama, Japan through the Nova Scotia International Student Program.
Julie Babin is one of the parents organizing a silent auction and fundraiser at ADJA Studio and Gallery on Main Street in Liverpool, from 7 to 9 p.m. It will feature local visual art, crafts and baked goods donated by people from the community.
“There will be anything from knit items, photographs, stained glass, paintings, jewelry, all kinds of cool stuff to help these kids get their goal met and get to Japan.”
People will be able to bid on items at the gallery on Friday night. And the auction will continue on Facebook next week.
Babin says the students are working hard to reach their fundraising goal for the two-week trip.
“They’ve been working their little fingers to the bone to try to fundraise for the past six months. They’ve been doing beef jerky fundraisers, we have a fudge fundraiser going on, 50/50 tickets, bottle drives.”
She says the Queen’s Enviro Centre in Brooklyn is accepting donations of bottles for the trip. People just have to tell them it’s for “the Japan trip”.
The group has to raise $5,000, with each student expected to pay another $3,500.
Babin says they’re pretty close to their group goal. But any money raised above $5,000 will help lower the students’ expenses.
“If we can get that, the kids feel pretty good. … It’s exciting for them to see it slowly go up. We have a couple of more things on the horizon but we’re really hoping that this fundraiser gets us to that goal.”
Her 16-year-old son, Desmond Danylewich, is one of the 10 students going on the trip next July.
She said he’s excited to experience Japanese food and culture first-hand.
“It’s an opportunity of a lifetime to go and get to just immerse yourself in the culture of Japan. He’s looking so forward to trying real sushi and real tempura. It’s going to be exciting for him.”
Babin said it will also be interesting for students and parents to host 20 Japanese students in Liverpool for 10 days in April.
“So every one of our students will have two Japanese students come stay with them. See what eating Canadian food is like, going to school in a Canadian school. And then they’ll also get to go on excursions.”
Babin says they’ll be accepting art and craft donations for the auction right up until Friday evening.
“If you made it, we will appreciate it.”
And she says most of the kids going on the trip will also be at the fundraiser on Friday.
“7 to 9, come by, see the art, maybe lay a couple of bids, meet the kids. They’re pretty stoked to talk about their hopes for it and they’re really excited for the Japanese kids to come here.”
The LRHS Japanese exchange art auction begins at 7 p.m. on Friday at ADJA Studio and Gallery at 177 Main St. in Liverpool. You can leave donations for the fundraiser at the gallery. And you can also follow the event on Facebook.
Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com
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