Monday, November 13, 2006
Show your support with a 2HJ magnet!
Stick it on your car, your fridge at work or home, or anything else made of metal! These ribbon-shaped magnets communicate our shared mission of “Food for All People.”
Available through 2HJ for 1000 yen (small magnet) or 1500 yen (large magnet). You can also pick them up at outlets including Sony Plaza and Autobacs!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Watch Online: OurPlanet TV Interviews 2HJ Resource Coordinator Yusuke Wada
OurPlanet TV’s Rika Kobayashi interviewed Yusuke Wada today about hunger and food banking in Japan. The basic function of a food bank – to take in food from donors and redistribute it to those in need – is still not widely known in this country.
Some facts mentioned in the 23-minute interview may surprise viewers: 650 thousand people lack food security in Japan and 19.5 million are living below the poverty line. This need is coupled with a system that makes donating food difficult even for companies that want to give; they are taxed when they donate an amount of food that exceeds the government’s current cutoff line.
Watch the interview online (in Japanese only)! It will be the featured item on OurPlanet TV’s web site for two weeks.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Harvest for Hunger 2006 Draws 170 Attendees
The third annual Harvest for Hunger was held on Sunday, October 15 at Fujimamas in Omotesando. With a record 170 people in attendance, the event was a genuine success, reaching out to many concerned residents in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. With the goal of raising awareness about Second Harvest Japan’s mission, Harvest for Hunger featured an address by executive director Charles McJilton, and during dinner guests were invited to learn more about food banking and volunteer opportunities at information tables set up in the restaurant.
At the three tables upstairs, attendees learned about a variety of food banking issues. Seisei Shibata spoke with attendees about the efforts she and her husband, Kousaku, have made to spread the idea and practice of food banking in Japan; the couple has been with 2HJ from the beginning. Yusuke Wada, Resource Coordinator, recounted his experiences at U.S. food banks and talked about how he is putting the lessons he learned into practice here in Japan. Michelle Ryan shared her stories about some of the 80 families and individuals to whom she provides weekly emergency groceries as the coordinator of 2HJ’s Harvest Pantry. The pantry provides a service that otherwise does not exist in Japan and is 2HJ’s fastest growing sector. At the information table downstairs, attendees could sign up to volunteer and to receive information about volunteering; Co-Volunteer Coordinator Patricia Decker was there to chat about volunteering and answer any questions.
Those in attendance left with a stronger sense of the underserved communities in Tokyo and learned more about Second Harvest’s objective to collect otherwise-wasted food and redistribute it to those who need it most. Many thanks to everyone who attended Harvest for Hunger, and special thanks to Fujimamas for supporting the evening. Thank you also to the Planning Committee for selling tickets and to the volunteers who helped to make the night run smoothly: Leland and Carolyn Gaskins, Teri Scott, Masahiko Shibata, Leah Mitchell, Anna Maria Dew, and Ashley Rudisill. Together we can make hunger history!
Writer: Ashley Rudisill
Photos: Daniel Perez
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Distributing Warm Meals with Warm Hearts at Ueno Park on Saturdays
Over six months have passed since I started to help 2HJ with the Ueno Park distribution on Saturdays. I first joined the distribution with an American friend who organized a volunteer event for her Japanese-American club last fall.
2HJ’s Saturday distribution has various unique features. First, it requires some physical work. Since I spend all day sitting in front of the computer at work, it’s so nice to be able to move around.
The preparation usually starts at 10:30 at the warehouse, and volunteers are split into a few teams to prepare such items as bread, vegetables, and rice. Then, we cut bread, boil vegetables, and make some soups or risotto until noon. Once we arrive at Ueno Park at around 12:30, we serve food to around 450 people until the food runs out at around 14:00. After a small meeting among the volunteers, some of us come back to the warehouse to clean the large pots and sweep the grounds. We normally finish cleaning up at 16:00. Thus, we keep moving all day long!
Another unique feature of the distribution is the direct feedback from the recipient side. I hear the words “thank you” hundreds of times when I distribute food at the park, and it is so nice to be appreciated for what I do.
But the most unique feature is the variety of people who come and help with the distribution. Over 70% of the volunteers at Saturday distribution are foreigners. Some go to international schools, some work for foreign companies, and some work as English teachers in Japan. Many of the remaining Japanese volunteers have some international background, like myself, who lived in the U.S. for six or seven years and now work at a foreign company.
We also have some native Japanese volunteers consisting mainly of retired older men, or “ojisan.” They don’t speak English at all, but they communicate with others so well with their good sense of humor of “oyaji gags” (old men’s jokes). I am so happy that they now call me “Sayo-chan” in a friendly way.
In fact, this kind of warmth among the volunteers is the driving force at 2HJ. We don’t simply distribute warm meals to people in need, but we also provide them with our warm hearts. I hope more people with warm hearts – Japanese and non-Japanese alike – will come and help with the Saturday distributions to achieve our mission of “Food for All People.”
Writer: Sayoko Tanaka
Photo: Patricia Decker
Client close-up: Refugees in Japan receive food through 2HJ-JAR cooperation
Much-needed food goes out to those who need it from Second Harvest Japan to a great network of organizations. We often hear about food going to orphanages, elderly care facilities, and the homeless, but another group of recipients is nearly invisible to many of us: people who come to Japan from other countries as refugees. Contacting 2HJ through the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR), these people and their families receive urgently needed food.
Yusuke Wada, 2HJ Resource Coordinator, recently sat down with Seiko Masuyama of JAR to get a better idea of who these people are, why they need our help, and what we can do to help them. Those who are considered to be refugees based on the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees have been persecuted in their own countries for reasons such as politics, race, and religion. According to social worker Masuyama, a majority of those in Japan who fled their own countries for these reasons are men in their 30’s and 40’s, many of whom were leaders in their own countries. “Some are Burmese who were engaged in the democratization movement,” says Masuyama, “and some others are Christian converts from Islam coming from Iran.” The flow of women refugees and families is also increasing, but the very circumstances that force people to flee their homelands often leave them with no choice but to leave their families behind.
Unable to work for legal reasons or due to personal trauma, the average refugee in Japan lives on 100,000 yen per month, has no health insurance, and has little in terms of a support network. Masuyama paints a bleak picture, explaining that, “Since they fled their own countries for political or religious reasons, some can’t even meet others from the same country.” On top of this isolation, hunger is a serious concern for these people; they most need rice, meat and vegetables, and oil. Second Harvest Japan accepts donations of all of these—provided that the items are not perishable (meats and vegetables should be canned).
2HJ uses two methods to deliver food to refugees who contact us through JAR: “homebound deliveries,” where a volunteer personally delivers the food to the recipient’s home, and sending care packages through a delivery service. We welcome volunteers for homebound deliveries. Also, since the delivery service is highly cost-effective, we plan to expand our use of it. A donation of just 2000 yen could bring comforting, needed food to the tables of four families here in Japan who may not know where their next meal is coming from.
Writer: Patricia Decker / Yusuke Wada
Photo: JAR
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