A Thousand Origami Cranes Delivered to Manchester Memorial Hospital

When workers head to the cafeteria for their much desired break, all they can usually think about is going straight for that salad, burger or pizza. However, on Wednesday, July 20 at , the employees’ focus was not on the meal of the day or any food selection at all. Instead, they had a pleasant surprise waiting for them at the cafeteria’s entrance courtesy of Manchester High School's Asian American Association.

The employees found a tall glass vase with 1,000 multi-colored origami cranes, which had been folded by the high school's Asian American Association, a donation to thank the workers for all their help in the community.

Rosemary Martocchio, the Communications Manager at the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, said the display was one of the nicest things she had seen in her 15 years at the hospital. She noticed how much it touched all of the employees.

“You could just see the response on their faces when they came down to the cafeteria,” Martocchio said. “It put a great, big smile on everyone’s face, and there were the collective ‘oos’ and ‘awes’ from everybody.”

Martocchio said it was definitely something they don’t see every day at the hospital. She added that the display was eye-catching, fascinating and heartwarming.

“It was extremely impressive, the way all of the cranes were very well defined,” she said. “It must have taken them a long time to do that. And it was just wonderful that the high school kids thought of us. We want them to know how much it really affected us.”

Next to the origami display, the MHS Asian American Association had left a note, which explained the meaning behind all of the origami cranes.

The letter explained how a Japanese toddler, Sadako Sasaki, was living in Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, at the end of World War II. She survived the bomb, but the radiation gave her Leukemia when she was 12 years old in 1955, and she was given less than a year to live.

When Sasaki was in the hospital, her friend Chizuko visited and told her about the legend of the cranes. Chizuko said the crane is a sacred bird in Japan and lives up to 1,000 years, and if someone folds 1,000 origami cranes, then that individual can make one wish.

As a result, Sasaki started to fold crane after crane in the hope of getting to 1,000, so she could wish to get healthy again. Sasaki had severe aches and pains, but she always remained hopeful.

She unfortunately passed away in October of 1955, only completing 644 cranes. However, her classmates heard about Sasaki’s goal and finished the other 356 cranes. Then, people throughout Japan heard about her project, and all students started to fold origami cranes.

Sasaki became so well-known that a statue of her holding up a gold crane was unveiled in 1958 at Hiroshima Peace Park; the statue is a memorial to all the victims of the atomic bomb. In addition, every year on Aug. 6 (the anniversary of dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima), Japanese students tell Sasaki’s story and fold cranes to pass on the message of world peace.

The MHS Asian American Association thought it would be fitting to give the hospital 1,000 origami cranes.

“Your mission to save and help lives truly resembles hope and peace,” the high school group wrote to the hospital. “May all whom come in contact with this story become touched by it and motivated to spread its message. One person at a time, we spread hope for a peaceful future.”

Martocchio said the donation was quite beautiful, and it was a wonderful reminder of why they are health care professionals.

“It’s to improve the well-being of all who enter our facility by providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare,” she said. “Every time our efforts bring about healing, comfort, and peace to our patients and family members, we achieve the highest level of excellence.”

For more information about the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, log on to http://www.echn.org/.