#VD2021fromBJFC Appreciation Blog from BJFC Admins

Hello!

One month flew by since we started our Valentine's Day project which included a blood drive and a donation drive for Japan Red Cross with the hashtag, #VD2021fromBJFC, which was also appropriately subtitled as ~Red Blood Instead Of Red Roses~ in Japanese.

(Translation memo: Just to give you some background information of the project, which is the gift to Bright-kun for this year's Valentine's Day from BJFC, Japan Brights were able to participate in our Blood Drive from any Japan Red Cross Blood Donation sites, with 13 collaborated rooms in Tokyo, Osaka, Miyagi and Fukuoka where our poster of Bright were displayed (really excited about this) and our appreciation giveaway of mask cases were distributed to donors during the entire month of February. For those who can not donate blood could still support the project by the donation drive we conducted at our online store and they received either a cute Bright acrylic standee or a BJFC original design digital Bromide as giveaways.)

This project received a lot of positive feedback and many participants, causing some collaboration rooms to run out of the giveaway before the end of the project. We are very grateful for everyone's support for this project to help out where you can as Bright would. We saw first time donors, returning and

veteran donors participated in the blood drive. We appreciate not just for those who went to the blood donation sites but also for those who supported the people who donated blood by donating to fund the project. We hope we were able to support the wish of Brights in Japan to help others.

We also happened to experience an earthquake on the day before Valentine's Day in Tohoku region of Japan. (Translation memo: It was a rather large shake that reminded many Japanese people of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th, 2011.)

From the perspective of someone who suffered from the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, I can tell you that we were helped by many people from everywhere back then to be able to welcome the 10th year since the disaster. Even the word, “a bond (Kizuna)” may sound cheap to describe the sincerity of the people who supported us at the time, so I firmly believe in the people’s willingness to help others.

I originally thought the blood drive may not be possible because donating blood is not something people can easily do because of many reasons that prevent people from donating, such as their health conditions. It was especially touching for me to realize the people’s willingness to help others by the success of the project which is reminding me of the feeling of being supported that I experienced at the time of the earthquake in 2011.

This project also helped me to renew my bow to help, whether blood donation or something else, whenever I can.

Comments from BJFC #VD2021fromBJFC project team members:

◆Acrylic Standee Team

From Armeria

Creating an acrylic standee of Bright was my idea.

My plan was for Brights to be able to have fun no matter where they are, because of the current pandemic situation. I understand many are still stuck inside, so I wanted to give Brights something to help them be able to have a Valentine’s Day party anywhere.

Then this idea was appointed to be one of the giveaways of the Valentine’s Day project. I am glad that my idea was a part of the project that helps people.

I hope that every time Brights look at the standee, they can remember the bitter sweet aroma of chocolate and the day that they did something good for the people.

Thank you so much for participating in the project from the bottom of my heart.

From Gladiolus

I mainly helped out in the shipping of the standees.

This was BJFC’s first original item that involved shipping and I was very excited, but I have to be honest that I was horrified by the amount of standees shipped from the vendor and the number of envelopes that we had to purchase 555

My heart was filled with warmth by the many caring words of encouragement that we received for this project. It’s impressive to know that we have this many Brights in Japan.

Because of the pandemic of COVID 19, we learned to be “each” of us as “an individual” “at home,” and I hope our #VD2021fromBJFC project made your daily life a little “Brighter.”

Once the restriction is lifted, I am looking forward to seeing our standees in many posts from many different places you go.

Lastly, I would like to sincerely thank each and everyone of you who participated in this project.

◆Collaboration Room Team

From Ginger lily

It’s really embarrassing to admit, but I was never leading a healthy lifestyle as described in our post with the slogan “ぶらいとすきやねん,” and I have not tried again since my last visit to blood donation site ended up a failure because I didn’t have enough oxygen level in my blood. I occasionally see a call for blood donation while I’m out, but it was someone else’s problem as I thought that I was not equipped to do it and thinking someone else will do it.

(Translation memo: “ぶらいとすきやねん,” literally means “I like Bright” in Kansai dialect in Japanese, is the slogan we created to promote healthy lifestyle to make your body ready to donate blood. It’s the string of one letter from food and activities that make you healthy, including nutritious food like fish, seaweed and veggies, and regular exercise.)

That was how I was before the project, but as I talked to people at the Japan Red Cross and Site Directors at their blood donation rooms, my mindset gradually changed and by actually donating my blood, the act of donating blood became my action item.

Seeing all the posts by the participants and the number of participants increasing day by day, even though the project is for Bright-kun, I am still very appreciative of all the support we received from the bottom of my heart.

Also, I would like to thank the person in charge, who I choose not to mention the name from the privacy stand point, and all the staff at collaboration rooms at Japan Red Cross.

From Cyrtanthus

Thank you so much for so many Brights to help in this project. I am genuinely happy to feel that there is a strong love from everyone to help others by the overwhelming support we received which was unexpected.

By working on a blood drive project, BJFC admins deepen our understanding of the process of donating blood and health requirements to be able to become a donor, it made us realize again how the act of giving blood is very important at any time.

I hope we were able to demystify the process to help you think about doing it again when there is a chance.

Again, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to anyone who helped. Blood transfusion is an essential medical treatment. Your blood can literally help someone in need. Please go donate next time, too! Thank you very much.

From Zinnia

Our discussion went like this: What to send to Bright-kun for Valentine’s Day ⇒ What would make him happy? ⇒ He is into social good ⇒ How about a blood drive! And our further brainstorming also confirmed that Valentine's Day ⇒ the color red ⇒ red blood, which led to this wonderful project.

In fact, I was worried that it may be too hard for people to participate because of health condition requirements to donate blood, but I am so glad that my worry didn’t turn out to be an issue as we have close to 300 donors in the blood drive as of 2/14/2021, and I can not thank you enough to all who are making the time to participate.

As for someone who took pride in my health, it was embarrassing to find out that I did not meet the criteria to donate blood, but it became an opportunity for me to revisit my lifestyle to practice “ぶらいとすきやねん” to become healthier, so I can donate blood whenever I have the chance to do so in the future.

◆BJFC Design Team

From Muguet

When we conducted a twitter survey asking if Brights like “Cool Bright” or “Cute Bright.” We did not reveal what that was for, and now you know it was for this project 555

Considering the fact more Brights voted for “Cute Bright,” we soften our usual cool and stylish design with cute Bright-kun images for this project. I wonder if you liked them?

Just by seeing so many people participating in this project and posting our poster and the mask cases, or the standees, it makes my heart filled with so much gratitude. I am very happy that we did it. I would like to sincerely thank everybody who supported this project.

From Narcissus

I was really honored to support this project that was planned to align with BJFC’s motto for this year, which is “What Would Bright Do?,” as one of the designers in the project team✨✨

So many Brights supported the purpose of the project to go donate their blood or give monetary donation, it actually was a little intimidating for me to know that my work has been received by so many, but at the same time, it made me very happy as well.

I also donated my blood and made a donation as one of the Brights who supported the project🤗 It was my very first time donating blood. To be honest and I'm embarrassed to admit, I may have not even tried it if it was not for the project….

For the design I did for the project, I paid attention so that it would make Brights happy, that it would make them smile when they look at it. It would make me so happy if my design has done that for you, even only for a little bit.

I would like to continue support Bright-kun all the way from Japan with all the Japan Brights together😊💕

◆Comment as we are concluding the project

From Chinese holly

Let me try to sum up the project with the feedback that we received.

First of all, the idea of donating for social good instead of sending an actual gift was accepted so warmly by many, not only by Brights in Japan, but also by many others, was a pleasant surprise and we really would like to express our sincere gratitude for being with us throughout the project.

We are all under COVID 19 situation preventing us from freely going outside, so we understand that all participants spend time and effort to do this by reading many replies and mentions to us, and in the posts with our hashtag attached. We really would like Bright-kun to see all of the posts if possible, because this is a testament that his wish and positive attitude do inspire people to make meaningful actions and being able to see that happen all the way in Japan was one of our proudest moments and we were impressed so much by all the Brights who supported the project.

If Bright-kun is the amplifier of the voice, we were so happy to be able to turn it on to be heard in Japan as his FC and this huge success is with everyone who agreed with the project purpose. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!

And we really have to mention that this project would have not even happened without the full support of the people of Japan Red Cross. We also would like to show our deepest appreciation to the fact that they are always active, unlike us whose only active for the duration of the project. We appreciate your tireless efforts, night and day. Thank you so much and hope we get to do this again together.

~End of the comments~

I will try to maintain a healthy lifestyle so I can participate in the next chance I get!

Brights, let’s stay healthy with “ぶらいとすきやねん” to produce more good blood!

Please look forward to the mosaic art made with images received from the project participants that we will present to Bright-kun on 3/14/2021, which is on the day called "White Day" in Japan.

(Translation memo: White Day is supposed to be the day to return the favor people received on Valentine's Day in Japan.)

BrighrJapanFC Blog by Loropetalum chinense, Chinese Holly