Cars Washed, Kids Sprayed, $1,300 Raised for Japan

By Lynne Bosche

A small yet hardworking group is thanking the Piedmont community for supporting its car wash last Sunday, Sept. 11, which raised nearly $1,300 to aid victims of Japan's recent earthquakes and the disasters that followed.

In particular, the volunteers are recognizing Simon Ho, owner of the on Highland Avenue, for letting them temporarily take over his station and for spontaneously donating more sponges.

Car wash organizer Yukiko Adams has been hearing first-hand reports of the situation in Japan from her mother, Masako, who has been working with the Red Cross in Toyoma, Adams' hometown, ever since the tragic events unfolded last March.

Adams told of learning that her 72-year-old mother had driven seven hours in a van filled with food, supplies and volunteers into Sendai, a heavily impacted area. Her team of volunteers all slept in the van in between deliveries of aid to two isolated villages. It was not an official Red Cross outing, but something the volunteers saw could make a difference. 

“There were many areas the rescue help couldn't reach at the time and I'm so proud of her reckless, courageous action!," Adams wrote.  

Her mother's work prompted Adams to help her daughter, Julia, a sophomore at Piedmont High School, organize with other students to raise funds and awareness. 

As if in preparation for their current efforts to aid the relief, two years before disaster struck Japan, Adams and her daughter had accompanied her mother on a mission to help orphans in Chengdu, China, that had also been ravaged by an earthquake.

The money raised amidst all the splashing and sudsing and consumption of bake sale goodies Sunday was donated to Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, which works with Japanese efforts, notably with each community’s local YMCA.