Media Release

Media contact: Jeff Cotter (415) 608-5333 jcotter@rainbowfund.org

** The 18th Annual RWF World Tree of Hope at Grace Cathedral

World’s Most Unique Holiday Tree — A gift to the world from the LGBTQ Community — Promoting Peace, Love and Humanitarian Action

People Around the World Asked to Submit “Wishes for the Future of the World” to be hung on tree decorated with up to thousands of Folded Origami Cranes

— The largest such annual installation on the planet

The 18th Rainbow World Fund “World Tree of Hope” at Grace Cathedral December 1, 2023 to January 5, 2024

Tree lighting is December 4, 2023 from 6:30-8 p.m.

Wishes will be added to the Tree throughout December

www.worldtreeofhope.org 

25 October 2023 - San Francisco:  Wishes are powerful — they are the seeds of action. For the 18th year, those seeds bear fruit. Rainbow World Fund (RWF) invites the people of the world to submit wishes to decorate the RWF World Tree of Hope ®, a global symbol of unity and hope for a better world and a unique and inspirational feature of San Francisco’s holiday season.  Since 2006, its first year, hundreds of thousands of wishes have be sent in online and by mail from people in over seventy countries to adorn the Tree.

The RWF World Tree of Hope is the largest origami decorated holiday tree in the world, traditionally decorated with over 17,000 origami cranes and stars. Each crane or star is hand folded and inscribed with wishes for the future of the world.

The RWF World Tree of Hope is a gift to the San Francisco Bay Area and the world from the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community. The tree is on display in the AIDS Memorial Chapel of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco from December 1, 2023 to January 5, 2024 (per COVID-19, visit https://gracecathedral.org to see when the Cathedral is open).

Designed as the world's most unique holiday tree, people worldwide can help decorate the tree by simply sharing their wish for the future. The wishes come from people of all ages, all faiths and all walks of life. Wishes are sent in from around the world online at http://www.worldtreeofhope.org or via mail to RWF World Tree of Hope / 4111 18th Street # 5 / San Francisco, CA 94114. The wishes are then printed and folded into origami cranes by a diverse team of volunteers including members of San Francisco's LGBTQ+ and Japanese American communities, survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, local children, and life-sentence prisoners from San Quentin. The origami "crane wishes" are then placed on the tree. Submitting a wish is FREE and open to everyone. Wishes will be added to the Tree throughout December and are accepted year round.

“We created the World Tree of Hope to inspire hope and to encourage people to think about what they would like for the future of the world, and then take action,” said Jeff Cotter, Rainbow World Fund founder and executive director. “The tree illustrates that while a single person’s offering is valuable, the collective effort of many possesses great power and strength. If each person would do just one small thing that is good for our world today, we will be better off tomorrow than we were yesterday.”

Notable wishes on the Tree have come from President Barack Obama, Dame Jane Goodall, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Arianna Huffington, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Isabel Allende, the late SF Mayor Edwin M. Lee, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Mariela Castro, Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī, the late Shirley Temple Black, Frances Moore Lappe, Danielle Steel, the late Patty Duke, Sharon Gless, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Jane Elliot, Stanlee Gatti and RuPaul.  

“A world for our children more just, more fair, and more kind than the one we know now.” -President Barack Obama

“I dare to wish for a world in which people live in harmony with each other and with the natural world and all the wondrous animals with whom we share the planet.” -Dame Jane Goodall

Samples of celebrity and children’s wishes are at https://www.worldtreeofhope.org/celebrity-wishes 

The Tree is inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, the Japanese child whose journey and death several years after the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima transformed the origami crane into a symbol of world peace. In 1955, the origami crane became an international symbol of peace when the world learned the story of Sadako Sasaki. Ten years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, 12 year old Sadako contracted leukemia. While in the hospital, a friend told her about a Japanese legend that the folder of a thousand paper cranes would be granted one wish. Sadako started folding but grew weaker with time. Her wish to be healed grew into a wish for peace for all the world. Sadako passed away and was 356 cranes short of her goal. Her classmates folded the rest and all 1,000 were buried with her. On the wings of her cranes Sadako would write messages. One deeply profound message read, "I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world." Her hope, strength and determination have inspired millions to this day.

“The Rainbow World Fund World Tree of Hope taps into two of our most powerful resources – the human mind and heart,” Cotter sums up. “It gives individuals a way to join together to express our hopes and intentions for the future of our global community. It is a celebration of the power of hope — how essential it is to our survival, our healing and humanity”

This will be the seventh year that Grace Cathedral has hosted the Tree. In addition to being a beautiful venue that is open to the public, Grace Cathedral has a tradition of welcoming people of all faiths and spiritualities and being a strong supported of the LGBTQ+ community. Tree is created by Rainbow World Fund, an LGBTQ+ based nonprofit.  The Tree’s purpose is purely humanitarian with a message one of universal love. It is for everyone regardless of belief or non-belief. The Tree was previous displayed at San Francisco City Hall for eleven years.

The official live tree lighting celebration will be on Monday, December 4, 2022 at 6:30 pm: 

The Grammy winning San Francisco Boys Chorus ● Emcee Donna Sachet ● The Right Reverend Marc Andrus, Bishop of California ● Queer Chorus of San Francisco ● The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Young ● Leberta Lorál ● Tammy Lynne Hall-Hawkins ● Origami Artist Linda Mihara ● RWF Founder Jeff Cotter ● The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. will bless the Tree ● Special guests TBA and much more!

About Rainbow World Fund: RWF’s mission is to promote peace, unity and hope by leading the LGBTQ+ movement in participating in local and humanitarian relief efforts. Founded in 2000, RWF is the world's first LGBTQ+ based humanitarian aid organization. RWF works to help people affected by natural disasters, hunger, poverty, disease, oppression and war by raising awareness in, and funds from, the LGBTQ+ community to support relief efforts around the world. RWF provides a united voice, a large visible presence both in the United States and abroad, and a proven structure to deliver LGBTQ+ charitable assistance to the larger world community. RWF has donated over $5 million in grants and life saving aid and provided over 75,000 volunteers hours helping both LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ in need around the world. RWF’s philosophy is that we are all “One Human Family” and that we are living in a time that tells us that our survival on this planet depends on us all giving more to each other. RWF is 100% volunteer run. Learn more at: www.rainbowfund.org

CALENDAR LISTINGS: Events/ Benefits:

WHAT: Rainbow World Fund presents THE WORLD TREE OF HOPE - The world’s most unique holiday tree decorated with thousands of white origami cranes, each containing written wishes of hope and peace from children and individuals from around the world. Wishes can be submitted online for free at http://www.worldtreeofhope.org The wishes are printed, folded into origami cranes and placed on the tree. Be part of this unique symbol of global unity and hope!

WHEN: The tree is on display in the AIDS Memorial Chapel of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco from December 1, 2023 to January 5, 2024 (per COVID-19, visit https://gracecathedral.org to see when the Cathedral is open).

TREE LIGHTING - DECEMBER 4, 2023 at 6:30 PM: The Grammy winning San Francisco Boys Chorus ● Emcee Donna Sachet ● The Right Reverend Marc Andrus, Bishop of California ● The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Young ● Queer Chorus of San Francisco ● Leberta Lorál ● Tammy Lynne Hall-Hawkins ● Origami Artist Linda Mihara ● RWF Founder Jeff Cotter ● The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. will bless the Tree ● Special guests TBA and much more!

Event details: http://www.worldtreeofhope.org/tree-lighting

FACEBOOK EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/700918928336979

WHERE: Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108

Wishes will be added to the tree throughout December 2020. Submitting a wish is free!

SUBMIT A WISH ONLINE: http://www.worldtreeofhope.org

MAIL WISHES TO: Rainbow World Fund, 4111 - 18th Street #5, San Francisco, CA 94114

INFO: 415-431-1485 or http://www.worldtreeofhope.org

Help decorating the Tree in person Nov. 4-26, 2023: https://bit.ly/WorldTreeofHope-Volunteer

PRESS INFO. & ASSETS:

YouTube Tree Invitation to Hope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD-oLJZHJDA

YouTube 1 minute time lapse of decorating tree (2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUqq1vrqJT

VIDEO: Last year’s 2020 World Tree of Hope Lighting: https://bit.ly/WorldTreeOfHope2020-Lighting