Sunday, December 13, 2009
winter fundraising campaign 2009
Changing “What a Waste” to “Thank you”
Give your support to Second Harvest Japan for its winter fundraising campaign.
Your gifts will deliver food to those in need.
You can make a gift here.
Currently 2HJ is having a Winter Fundraising Campaign.
As the holiday season approaches, Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) staff and volunteers are trying even harder to deliver mottainai food* to those in need. This food is a great help to children at orphanages, who cannot spend time with their families even during the holidays, struggling single-mother households, elderly people without families, and those who lost their homes because of layoffs.
So far this year, 2HJ has delivered hundreds of tons of mottainai food to those in need. But the season of the most need is yet to come. Every day, 2HJ receives phone calls saying, “I need your help. Please send us food!” We will deliver food to even more people so that those in need at least know where their meals are coming from during the holiday season.
Many mottainai food donations come to 2HJ’s warehouse every day. To deliver the food to those in need, we need your support. Your gifts will deliver food to those in need. Please make a gift for 2HJ’s winter fundraising campaign.
Your 1,000 yen gift will deliver 14,000 yen worth food to those in need
2HJ receives not only phone calls asking for help, but also many calls saying, “I received your food. Your help meant a lot to me. Thank you so much!” We cannot showcase all these voices but they are so grateful for your support. We thank you on behalf of our clients.
You can make a gift here.
Thank you very much again for your understanding and generous gift.
Your gift will deliver food with your warm-heartedness to those in need!
* What is mottainai food ? Food manufacturers, sellers, and farmers usually make and store more food than they actually sell because it is extremely difficult for them to predict exactly how much of their products consumers will purchase. Also, because of consumers’ high standards, even slightly damaged products such as dented canned goods are not good enough in commercial markets. 2HJ collects those mottainai food and distributes them to people in need. 2HJ would like you to join us to accomplish the great dream of expanding this cost-effective system to every town and village all over the country.
Link to News story »
Friday, October 02, 2009
Volunteer interview No.3
Volunteer Interview No. 3
For the third interview of our series of Volunteer to Volunteer Interviews, Cylinda Marquart talks to Waseda University volunteer, Kanoko Uegaki about how she became involved with 2HJ and her plans for the future.
Q: How did you hear about 2HJ?
A: I’m a full-time student studying Cultural Anthropology of Sport at Waseda University but I also work part-time in a coffee shop in Chiba. From time to time we throw a lot of food away and I think, “mottainai”, or “What a waste!” That was when I heard about 2HJ from a friend of mine and started volunteering here regularly in April. I usually join in on Friday cooking activities and also help pick-up food donations. I’ve also helped serve food to recipients in Ueno Park.
Q: I’ve heard you speaking very fluent Chinese while we cut vegetables, can you tell us more about that?
A: I’ve been studying Mandarin for the last one and a half years at Waseda and in September I will move to Beijing to study at Beijing University. I’m hoping to improve my language skills as well as introduce Chinese people to Japan. After the 2008 Olympics, many young Chinese became interested in volunteering and the world around them. I’d like to meet some of these people and join their volunteer activities as well as travel. In the future, I’d like a career in the media that bridges our two countries.
Q: What does the food that 2HJ prepare taste like? I’ve heard the donuts are good!
A: The donuts and other bread we pick-up on Fridays are excellent! The soup is really tasty, too. A few months ago we served a chanko-nabe which was good enough to sell in a restaurant. The Saturday soup kitchen menu usually includes potato salad, pickles, bread, rice, soup and even dessert. This summer I’m hoping to pass out the cold ice cream!
Q: What do you like about 2HJ?
I like meeting other volunteers. We come from many different backgrounds and ages that include cooks, teachers, retirees, business people and one of our members who you can see on a TV drama as an extra.
(Postscript by Cylinda)
2HJ wishes Kanoko-san, ‘good luck & safe travels’ for her time in China. We’ll miss her sense of humor and positive attitude while she is away.
Link to News story »Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Movie Screening
The documentary “Sour Strawberries – Japan’s hidden guest workers” was shot in March 2008 by a German-Japanese film crew in Tokyo. The movie shows migrants fighting for their rights as workers and citizens. The persons concerned are always at the centre of interest. While describing their situation, they are the protagonists of the movie. Contains interviews with NJ workers on their treatment, with input from people like migration expert Dr Gabriele Vogt, Dietmember Kouno Taro, Keidanren policymaker Inoue Hiroshi, labor rights leader Torii Ippei, Dietmember Tsurunen Marutei, and activist Arudou Debito, who gives us an animated tour of “Japanese Only” signs in Kabukicho.
http://www.debito.org/?page_id=1672
Link to News story »Tuesday, September 08, 2009
「LIVING WITH ART アートと食の共演」
An Evening of Fine Art and Fine Dining
For Charity Benefit for Second Harvest Japan http://www.2hj.org
Silent Auction of 12 Artworks
DATE Tuesday, September 15 18:00-21:00
VENUE Mario i sentieri
Nishi Azabu 4-1-10 Minato-ku 03-6418-7072
Price Y 11,500 paid by September 10, Y 12,500 at door
RSVP by September 10 (080-3150-3610)
Info 080-3150-3610 / http://www.theasiancollection.com
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Voices from Saturday Volunteers
“The program is accessible and it is easy for first-time participants to join the activities because each shift is about 120 minutes long.”
“May hat’s off to staff members and volunteers for their constant outdoor work regardless of weather, even in the rain!”
“”I felt the activities were very practical. By providing a new route for excessive products and building unprecedented links between suppliers and consumers, 2HJ activities can be seen as a business model as well as an economic activity. Sometimes volunteering is too skewed to “aid the poor” based on idealism, but it was wonderful for me to be able to volunteer without expecting any gratitude from the people who were helped since the 2HJ program is clearly a part of economic activities.”
“Time went by so fast because I was having so much fun. At Ueno park people receive the food with such beautiful smiles and as I watched the people hold the food so preciously, I couldn’t help but reflect on myself and how I can be so wasteful at times. I also had so much fun getting to know the other volunteers. Although I came in with the mindset of ‘giving time’, it seemed like in the end, I gained more from the experience than being able to give.”
“My perspective on the homeless changed entirely. Before, I used to think to myself, ‘the homeless are people who have nothing to do with me’. However, now I realize that the homeless are all humans who live in the same society, the same way I do.”
“Before, I used to distance myself from volunteerism as I never had such a positive impression of it, imagining it to be somewhat dull. However, at Second Harvest their work is so concise and simple and the people so lighthearted. More importantly, there lies a fundamental feeling of care that vibrates amongst the people there.”
“I think it is beautiful that there are so many people supporting the activities of Second Harvest. I thought to myself that I could see the world slowly becoming a better place.”
“I think that when people think of the word ‘volunteerism’, many imagine a world of difficulty and self-giving, a world reluctant to go near because of the fear of not being able to break away. Granted, there are such worlds out there but the environment of volunteering at Second Harvest is nothing like that. At Second Harvest, I think they are aiming to create a world that is ‘large and welcoming’ instead of what people tend to imagine the world of volunteerism as which is ‘deep and limited’”.
“The concept of giving help to all people in need is difficult and with such broad intentions it is also hard to find people who want to be supportive and involved. It is thus inevitable that such world of volunteerism is being reduced when the intentions are so distant and unimaginable. Instead, having the sentiment of ‘change being something that results from every body giving just a little’ will surely increase the number of supporters and will strengthen this world of volunteerism.”
“I think that it is clever that Second Harvest divides the activities into three shifts, giving the volunteers the choice of when they want to work. I am very content with my weekends whenever I help with the activities. Providing such volunteer opportunities is a rather new and modern concept and I was impressed by the balance and stability that Second Harvest is able to sustain.”
“From the perspective of a business that is a donor of Second Harvest, I have always been impressed by their professionalism—they take their time to preserve and protect the image of the companies they receive donations from, the soup kitchen is run under a solid and effective system, and all recipients at the soup kitchen are registered in an organized manner.”
“Everything was a new experience for me and I became so captivated that I can’t really put into words what I experienced yet. However, I did feel that there was no sense of ‘giving and receiving’, but rather, every body simply doing what they were meant to be doing.”
“To be honest, I was simply astounded by the amount of ‘unneeded’ food there was. When people thanked me when they received the food, there was only one thought that came to my mind: ‘thank you for receiving this precious food that was going to go to waste otherwise’. It is ironic to be thanked in situations like this, as I wanted to thank them for letting me be able to enjoy and be content with every second of my time there.”
“Food demand and supply ratio, waste ratio, unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and ‘net café refugees’—on one hand, these words describe the realities of communities of people living at the edge of society. However, on the other hand, there are crowded department stores, expensive foods, high-end brands, an entirely different side of the same society that exists in Japan today. My experience at Second Harvest was an opportunity for me to finally face the reality of the unfairness and hidden despair that exists in society and has become a starting point for me to give thought to the current situation in Japan.”
Link to News story »RSS
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