Research, Learn, and Think [Relay Essay]

Legend passed the baton for this relay essay to me. The theme is 'What is charity?'. In this essay, I would like to think about charity in my own way.

Legend's novel on the theme of charity is here ⇩ It is unique to Legend that you can enjoy it along with an original song!!

When I hear the word charity, the first thing that comes to mind is the 'Red Feather Community Chest' we had in elementary school. As a young child, I put money into the donation box because I 'wanted the colored feather'.

My teacher explained the 'Red Feather Community Chest' by saying, 'We are all helping each other a little bit,' and I was happy to learn that my money could be useful to someone. That is why I kept the feather I received carefully stuck to my communication bag for a while.

While tracing my memories, I thought, 'Come to think of it, I think there was a green feather too...'. I was curious, so I looked it up. It turns out there are donation campaigns with various colors, not just red and green. Even as an adult, there are so many things I don't know.

Red, green, blue, yellow, orange, and white feather donations. It seems that various organizations are conducting donation activities with different purposes.

Also, even if we just say charity, there are many forms of it now. The noter MitakaDai, whom I interact with, previously introduced a charity event called 'Act Against Anything' in an article.

'Act Against Anything' is a concert-style charity event in which people from various fields of the entertainment industry participate.

I was surprised when I read this article. As MitakaDai also mentioned in the article, I had a serious and slightly stiff image of charity.

To be able to contribute to charity with the proceeds while enjoying a concert. My favorite artist, Tsuyoshi Domoto, is also there. I thought I would definitely like to participate too.

This triggered me to look for other things related to charity from my hobbies and interests. That is when I discovered 'Felissimo's' SANTA BOX.

Out of 500 yen, 350 yen is used as a fund for the cause I want to support. The remaining 150 yen is for a Santa BOX that arrives for me (it's a surprise what arrives).

When it comes to charity, donations come to mind first, but now there are other ways to support.

March 11th. On this day, if you search for '3.11' on Yahoo, it leads to a donation. I also search for '3.11' every year to donate. However, even if there is no donation mechanism for searching, the act of researching and knowing itself might already be connected to charity.

Because I myself felt my heart get much closer to charity while researching and listening this time. ・There are donation activities with various feather colors ・There are activities that lead to charity by participating in concerts ・There is a fund to become someone's Santa ・Searching leads to donations

As listed above, through the various forms of support I learned about while researching, I felt that 'I could do this too' and 'I want to participate in this charity'.

Also, searching leads to not letting the earthquake disaster fade away. Immediately after the earthquake, voices of support were seen everywhere, but as time passes, the number inevitably decreases.

However, as an individual, I can research the current state of the disaster-stricken areas, learn about the current progress of reconstruction, and look for ways to contribute to charity that I can manage. It has been one year since the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. I decided to take this opportunity to look into the current situation in the affected areas and the accessible support options available to individuals once again.

Research, learn, and think. If I do that, I am sure there is still something I can do.

I am passing the baton for this relay essay to the next runner, Mikumayutan.

Miku-san's articles are so well-structured and use such clear language that even long pieces are easy to read through smoothly. With a sense of humor that makes you chuckle, combined with many articles that offer surprising insights, she is a very popular noter for both her writing and her personality.

↑ There are so many articles of hers that I like, I had trouble deciding which one to introduce. Miku-san, I look forward to you taking the baton.

PJ-san, Junpei Kobayashi-san, thank you very much for this valuable opportunity to participate in this relay essay.

Happy New Year. I look forward to your continued support this year. I hope 2025 will be a wonderful year for everyone.

Aozora Chikuwa