A student organization will accept donations for Japan this week in the Oklahoma Memorial Union in the wake of recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear-reactor leak disasters.

The OU Japanese Student Association is part of the Oklahoma Earthquake Support Group, association president Russell Kabir said.

The group consists of organizations across the state with connections to Japan, including the University of Central Oklahoma Japanese Student Association, the Japan-America Society of Oklahoma and a Japanese culture club at the Baptist Temple Church in Oklahoma City, Kabir said.

The group will man a booth from noon to 2 p.m. each day in the union. Students can donate cash or use laptops provided by the organization at its booth to make donations online.

All the money raised will go to the U.S.-Japan Council, which donates to non-profit organizations without any administrative fees, Kabir said.

“The money goes to an organization in Japan called the Center for Public Resource Development. It usually does relief efforts around the world but is now needed in its home country,” Kabir said.

The organization also will host an event fundraiser from 4 to 6 p.m. April 9 in Couch Restaurants, Kabir said.

OU Housing and Food Services has agreed to donate food for the event, and the organization hopes to provide entertainers such as traditional Japanese drummers.

“There is no set number we are trying to raise through all this,” Kabir said. “We just want people to give whatever they can. Most importantly, we want everyone to know that they can be involved in the event and the fundraising efforts.”

With the money raised, Kabir said he hopes Japan can move from the relief phase to the recovery phase.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, they should have thought about this or that’ looking back at the situation, but this was a highly unlikely series of events,” Kabir said.

The Norman Rotary Club would be doing similar fundraisers for relief in Japan, Norman Mayor Cindy Rosenthal said last week.

However, Norman Rotary Club President Basha Hartley said he did not know of any such plans yet within his club or the other two within the Norman area.