Support is Still Strongly Needed – Relief Effort in Ishinomaki No. 1

My name is Shibata, and I am a member of the Ishinomaki Relief Effort team. I am presenting a report on our relief effort in Ishinomaki. This is the first part of my report, and I will report on the rest in later articles.

Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) started food supply to Ishinomaki right after the 3.11 disaster.  Since then 2HJ has been delivering relief supplies donated from individuals and companies to the Self-Defense Forces temporary warehouse in Ishinomaki City Athletic Park (until June), NGOs and NPOs based in Ishinomaki Senshu University, evacuation centers, and survivors living in temporary houses or in their houses every weekend until now. Since survivors living in their houses receive little relief supplies from the local government, 2HJ has been regularly holding supply-distribution events in areas such as Minato, Kazuma, Watanoha, and Shiotomi, where lots of residents suffered serious damages from the tsunami.

In having the distributions for people living in their houses in these areas, 2HJ has collaborated with Fare Trade Tohoku, a local NPO, which has been supporting survivors since March 11.

2HJ’s 4-ton truck has been very useful for our relief efforts in Ishinomaki. In this picture, the truck had just arrived at the WFP warehouse built in Ishinomaki Senshu University (April, 2011).

Unloading relief supplies in the Self-Defense Forces temporary warehouse in Ishinomaki City Athletic Park

Preparing for a supply-distribution event in Kazuma area in April, 2011

After eight months since the disaster, most debris has been cleared, and disaster areas are relatively clean now. More and more stores are reopened, and local people can enjoy shopping. But in areas devastated by the tsunami, local businesses have not recovered yet. Survivors there have difficulties in going for shopping without cars or bicycles. Furthermore, many people have lost their jobs. Food supplies for them are still strongly needed. 2HJ wishes to ask for your unfailing support so we can continue to provide relief supplies for survivors until they rebuild their lives and stand on their feet.

2HJ Comic - Costco Run

A cartoon artist, Roberto De Vido, created great comics explaining Second Harvest Japan (2HJ)‘s disaster relief. (Visit Roberto’s site here.)
In this comic, one of our volunteers, Mr. Sonoda, went to our partner, Costco, to pick up food donated by them and deliver the food to agencies.
After reading this, you must feel like volunteering at 2HJ! Please contact us at volunteer@2hj.org! You can be the next Costco driver!

You can view the whole comic here!

We delivered Häagen-Dazs ice cream!

We delivered Häagen-Dazs ice cream 

From September 29 to October 2, we delivered Haagen-Dazs ice cream to people who had been relocated to temporary housing and those still staying in their collapsed dwellings. These people depend almost entirely on donations and aid-assistance.

Haijima, the 2HJ staff member currently stationed in Sendai City, worked with a local organization to best decide the areas where we were to distribute the ice cream. In Sendai, staff members from Personal Support Center patrolling around the temporary housing development helped us with our ice cream distribution.

One member said “Even people who usually stay at their homes during distributions came out for the ice cream, which gave us good opportunities to talk to them.” When we asked those who had received ice cream how many residents other houses had, they tried to remember by saying, “How many people are at Mr. so-and-so's place?” A junior high-school student who helped with the distribution said, “It was fun because I got to talk to the other people in our neighborhood!” I could see the circle of local community grow a little bigger thanks to our ice cream distribution. 

We also distributed in the areas where people were still living in their collapsed houses. Even though these people’s houses have been recognized by the authority as "completely collapsed," they cannot be relocated to temporary housing as their house still remains. Many of these people rarely receive aid deliveries.

Everyone there looked forward to the ice cream distribution. One family came with all their family members to the community center where we distributed the ice cream. One child, surprised, with his eyes wide open said, “I never had ice cream as aid distribution before!” That made me smile!

Häagen-Dazs Japan, thank you very much for your donation!

2HJ Comic - Four men 30 minutes?

A cartoon artist, Roberto De Vido, created great comics explaining Second Harvest Japan (2HJ)‘s disaster relief. (Visit Roberto’s site here.)


The second one of the comics is a story of 2HJ members building a large-size tent for food storage and volunteer accommodation in the disaster-stricken Ofunato are, Iwate.


Things could sometimes go differently from you originally expected. 2HJ members also didn’t expect this project would take that long, but the tent is up now and benefiting the people in Ofunato a lot! Thanks to CAMSS shelter!

You can view the whole comic here!

2HJ Comic - Food Package Making for Disaster Area!

A cartoon artist, Roberto De Vido, created great comics explaining Second Harvest Japan (2HJ)'s disaster relief. (Visit Roberto's site here.)


Today, we show you "Packing Day," which is about our wonderful volunteers making food packages for the disaster-struck area and load them onto a truck. You can see how the volunteers work and make a difference.


After you read this, you will feel like volunteering at 2HJ! Please visit our website to learn about our volunteering. We would really appreciate your help! Thanks to your help, our relief activities become possible. Thank you!

You can view the whole comic here!

1,000-Mile Cycling for Disaster Relief - From Kobe to Sapporo

A philanthropic cyclist, John Rucynski, biked from Kobe to Sapporo, which is about 1,000 miles, to raise money for Second Harvest Japan's disaster relief in Minami Sanriku town. Second Harvest Japan sends about 300 food packages to the disaster struck town every week. (Please read the article about the food packages here.) So far, we have sent more than 4,000 packages to temporary houses in Minami Sanriku and Minami Soma. John's fundraiser will help us deliver more food to the people in temporary houses in Minami Sanriku. Here is a message from John:

Message from John Rucynski/CyclingforJapan 

This summer I had planned a 1,000 mile cycling journey from Kobe to Sapporo. After the events of 3/11, of course this turned into a charity ride and also a mission to show the safety and beauty of the Tohoku region. Thanks to generous donations from the United States and Japan, I was able to collect 100,000 yen. This money will be used to assist the food package program in Minami-Sanriku town, Miyagi prefecture. For more details on this project, please check details on Second Harvest Japan’s blog. Thanks again to all of you for your support and generous donations. It’s still a long road to recovery, but I hope we could make a helpful contribution together. 

Thank you very much, John Rucynski and all the people supporting 2HJ's disaster relief! We will deliver your cheer as well as food to those in most need now! 

Biwa-ko in Shiga, Day 1 

Towada-ko in Akita

Sign like this kept me going

Reached my favorite hostel in Sapporo after 3 weeks!

Welcome party in Sapporo

Celebration in Sapporo

Delivered Food in Ofunato and Kamaishi: No.2

Some members of 2HJ and I, 2HJ COO Masahiro Otake, went to Ofunato and Kamaishi in North Japan on July 30. 


Our goals:

1) Set up a large-size tent in Ofunato

2) Deliver food to our partner agencies in Ofunato and Kamaishi in the disaster area

Previously I reported about the tent setting. In this report, I would like to report about food deliveries in Ofunato and Kamaishi. 

In the same-day afternoon, we visited aid-agencies in Ofunato and Kamaishi to deliver food. 

We delivered grapefruits to this aid-agency in Kamaishi.

We distributed grapefruits in Ofunato and Kamaishi along with posters with autographs and warm message from Sachi Suzuki, a Japanese model. 

The lady in the picture had her house swept away by the tsunami. 

With a smile, she said, "We will rebuild since I survived!" She is engaged in aid operations to help other disaster victims. I thought there were a lot to learn from her attitude. 

Through Second Harvest Japan's work, I encounter many people and learn life lessons from their attitudes and values. 

They teach me how important to both us and them to be connected through our aid activities. 

It will be six months soon since the disaster but we really need to keep the momentum of our disaster relief. 

Thank you very much for your continuous support!

Delivered Food in Ofunato and Kamaishi: No.1

Some members of 2HJ and I, 2HJ COO Masahiro Otake, went to Ofunato and Kamaishi in North Japan on July 30. 


Our goals:

1) Set up a large-size tent in Ofunato

2) Deliver food to our partner agencies in Ofunato and Kamaishi in the disaster area

In this post, I report how our tent setting went.

Previous night, which was July 29, we went to a warehouse in Hidaka city to pick up the tent donated by CAMSS SHELTERS in the U.S. After picking it up, we headed for the north.

2HJ CEO Charles McJilton operates a forklift to load the tent into our vehicle.

Also, we loaded the food we will deliver in Ofunato and Kamaishi at the same site.

Our volunteer, Mr. Watanabe, finished loading grapefruits donated from South Africa.

In the early morning of 30th, we arrived at Ofunato and started setting up the tent!

The instruction manual says it take 30 minutes for four men to set up a tent. 

Leaders discussing how we set it up.

After setting up the frame, we start working on the cover.

Because we misinterpreted the manual, it took longer than we expected. 

Once we put the cover on the frame, I felt the goal was almost there. 

Mission completed!!

It took us 3 and a half hours although the manual said it would take 30 minutes for four men. But anyways, we did it!!

We donated the tent to Ofunato Support Center Netowrk. Mr. Chiba, the third from the right, of the organization said, when asked about its use, they would use this to store aid supplies and shelter volunteers. 

Thank you, CAMSS SHELTERS!!

Here is CAMSS SHELTERS' website: www.camss.com/

Introducing Our Partner: OGA for Aid

In the previous post, we reported about food package project for Minami Sanriku. 

This time we would like to introduce the partner agency who receive our food packages and redistribute among the disaster victims around the town. 

Their name is OGA for Aid.

Right after the disaster, they entered Minami Sanriky town and set up a field office at Hotel Kanyo and distribute food packages and other supplies like daily necessities at emergency shelters, temporary houses, and victims' houses around the town. 

The leader of OGA, Angela

The fourth from the right is 2HJ COO Masahiro Otake

Volunteers distributing toys to kids in the town

Second Harvest Japan will continue the support in the region in cooperation with partners like OGA. 

If you have a chance to visit Minami Sanriku, please say hi to OGA for Aid. You will be welcomed!

OGA for Aid's website:

English: http://www.ogaforaid.org/en/

Japanese: http://www.ogaforaid.org/jp/ 

300 Food Packages Every Week for Evacuees in Minami-Sanriku Town

Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) has started sending food packages to people in Minami Sanriku since June. In this project, our volunteers make some 300 food packages at 2HJ's Tokyo office every Thursday. 2HJ distributes the packages to about 1,400 households living in temporary houses through a volunteer group in Minami Sanriku. A typical package contains items like rice, miso, soy sauce, condiments, dried food, and snacks. To see the places to which the group distributes the food, I, as a volunteer coordinator, visited the site and helped with the distribution of food packages to temporary houses on July 15.

Packing boxes at 2HJ's Tokyo office

Unloading packages from 2HJ's truck and loading them into a local volunteer group's truck in Minami-Sanriku town

First, I visited about 90 temporary houses, which were built where there used to be a camping school and a camping site. I then visited 50 to 60 temporary houses next to the schoolyard of an elementary school.

Distributing food packages each of which weighs more than 20 kg.

This lady said that when the tsunami hit the area, she had wrapped her baby in a towel and run away desperately to the hill.

Most people living there worked in the local fishing industry, but everything was swept away by the tsunami. Now they have no choice but to live in temporary houses. Our food packages were appreciated very much by the recipients because it takes as much as 40 minutes going for shopping as there is no supermarket nearby. One of the recipients said to me, "Thank you for coming all the way from Tokyo."

A message from children from all over the world is attached to every package.

It will take people in temporary houses a long time before they have steady income. Some elderlies who live alone cannot go for shopping by themselves. Demands for our food packages are high. We need to send packages continually.

Food Packaging Volunteers Needed!

Date: Every Thursday

Time: Morning Shift (from 10:00 to 12: 30)

         Afternoon Shift (from 1:30 to 4:00)

Place: 2HJ's Office (see the map.)

To apply, email us at volunteer@2hj.org with the date and shift(s) of your choice.

Report on Relief Efforts in Iwate Prefecture

We at Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) have been committing ourselves to relief efforts in Iwate prefecture and other affected areas since late March. Currently, we bring in truck-loads of relief supplies such as food mainly to Ofunato city every other week. Three local volunteer groups in the city have been energetically working in collaboration with 2HJ.

One of them is Ofunato Support Network Center (OSN-C), a volunteer group organized by local volunteers. Their main activities are to obtain relief supplies, distribute them, arrange volunteers, and organize regular events to rejuvenate Ofunato city. Their "Yappeshi" festival on May 29 attracted more than 2,000 people.

Face painting at "Yappeshi" festival

Poster of "Yappeshi" festival held on July 10

2HJ's COO Otake (fifth from left) and OSN-C staff members

Another volunteer group is "Sansan no kai."

The group, led by a local Italian restaurant owner, makes 2,000 meals every day and distributes them to evacuation centers and temporary houses. As the owner's unique characters attract more and more volunteers, the group's activities are expanding. Predicting that more and more evacuees will move to temporary houses from evacuation centers, the restaurant owner spoke sincerely about his determination to protect elderly people who live alone from dying a solitary death by visiting them regularly to bring his group's meal.

"We won't be overcome by tsunami", a slogan put on the window of RIAS Hall, which accommodates the base of Sansan no kai

Cooking in the kitchen

HJ's COO Otake (second from left) and Sansan no kai members

The last group 2HJ has been collaborating with is All Hands. All Hands is a US-based non-profit organization specializing in providing support for survivors of natural disasters around the world. To assist survivors of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, a lot of volunteers from all over the world have been cleaning up debris in Ofunato city and Rikuzentakata city. Local people say that they are encouraged very much by those volunteers who come all the way to Japan and work consistently and diligently. 2HJ distributes food to Rikuzentakata city in cooperation with All Hands.

At an evacuation center

At the base of All Hands

2HJ will strengthen the collaboration with the three groups and aim at the introduction and building of a food bank in the community. 2HJ's support for Ofunato city should not be temporary, and from a long-term standpoint, establishing a locally initiated, sustainable framework is important. To accomplish this, 2HJ will continue to collaborate with more local volunteers and organizations.

2HJ has so far received considerable emergency aid from a number of people, and your donation money will be used for distributing relief supplies to the affected areas and building the food banking system.