Good times can be good causes, too.

Friday night about 20 high school students camped out in front of the Gainesville Civic Center on Green Street to raise money for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

"We felt like we just needed to reach more people than high schoolers," Jordan Harste, 16, of Gainesville High School said, carrying a mug for donations. The students held up signs and cookware, hoping to draw the attention of the 5 o'clock traffic.

Campers included Gainesville and Johnson High School students, as well as two home-schooled students from Cherokee County.

Since the disaster, the Gainesville High School Interact Club has raised $600 by placing collection bins in strategic locations around their school, such as by the Chick-fil-A counter during lunch. But they wanted to do more.

They previously worked with the Rotary Club of Gainesville to send aid to Haiti, so they called on the organization again to help them focus their efforts for Japan. Rotary recommended working with ShelterBox, a relief organization that provides supply kits, including extra-durable tents, to people in disaster areas.

People who visited the campsite were allowed to tour the 10 large white tents set up for the chilly night.

The tents, which hold up to 10 people, are appropriate for almost any climate, said Mike Freeman, a volunteer with ShelterBox. They can withstand most weather conditions, including wind up to 150 miles an hour.

"This is the Cadillac of tents, made only for ShelterBox," Freeman said.

Freeman just returned from a two-week trip to Japan where the hand-delivered tents and supplies were much needed.

"Everything is gone, cities of a hundred thousand people," he said, "There's nothing left but rubble."

While cooking out and roasting marshmallows on the civic center's grassy lawn is quite different from how those in Japan are living, the students hoped their highly visible location would pay off.

"If a bunch of people come by at rush hour and drop some pocket change, it all adds up," said Mack Boyd, 18 and president of Gainesville High's Interact Club.

The students hoped to raise $10,000, enough for 10 ShelterBox tents and supply kits.

Whether they reach their goal or not, the students, like 15-year-old Gabrielle Diaz, hoped to bring more attention to Japan's need for support.

"A lot of people donated for Haiti, and we feel like if there were more awareness, they would donate for this too," Diaz said.