Students throughout Lake Washington School District (LWSD) are reaching out to those in need after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Schools, including those in Redmond, are planning events or coin drives to collect money for relief efforts overseas.

Rose Hill Elementary is holding Pennies for Japan. The drive began Monday and will run through Friday. The money will go to the American Red Cross.

Ben Rush Elementary is collecting money through Friday to be sent to a school or children’s program in the disaster area. In addition, students and staff members are making origami paper cranes to send with their collected donations. They hope to make at least one crane for each student and staff member – about 525 cranes. To get to their goal, many third through sixth grade students are using their lunch recesses to make the cranes.

A group of fourth-graders at Audubon Elementary have created a donation drive at the school for this week, complete with advertising posters and morning announcements. The money collected will go to the Red Cross. The students behind the drive are Jamie Pippin, Anna Captain, Michalle Dmitrovsky, Adrian Gomez, and Vivian Gray.

Evergreen Junior High students donated money for the privilege to chew gum at school. The Chew for Charity campaign ran from March 15-17 and helped involve all students, emphasizing that even a small donation can help. Students raised $2,433.02 for the Red Cross.