“I am so happy that I can do things for others, while learning something new. It’s also nice to be able to meet various people,” Watanabe says cheerfully. He hopes that more people can help each other by having the spirit of “co-existence.” In order to do so, “we have to enjoy doing volunteer work,“ he says.

“I’m hoping that 2HJ establishes a nationwide network sometime soon,” says Watanabe who sat in on a food bank meeting held in Yamanashi. After he and 2HJ staff delivered food donated from companies in Tokyo, the car became full of potatoes and turnips from Yamanashi on the way home. Watanabe says that 2HJ faces some challenges, such as securing more drivers and cars, but his dream is growing as he warmly watches young leaders grow. 

Tokyo Street Hockey Association (TSHA) -> http://tokyohockey.com
Misconduct Hockey League (MHL) -> http://www.misconduct.co.jp
The Yamato Cup -> http://yamatocup.com

Soon after we received the truck, we took it down to Nagoya for a delivery. In Aichi and Mie, we delivered food to agencies in cooperation with Second Harvest Nagoya. We used to be able to deliver less than 2 tons of food at a time, but with the new truck, we can deliver more than 3 tons at a time. This means we can deliver more food in a more efficient manner.

So far, the truck has also shown outstanding performance for pickup of baby food and industrial refrigerators. Those who are most in need of food assistance are people like low-income single mother households and elderly households. They do not necessarily belong to any agencies, so one of our biggest goals is to establish a food assistance system for them. This truck represents the capacity for a big step toward that goal.

As the photos below show, this 4-ton truck really stands out in the streets. If you spot it somewhere, please wave hello to the driver!

2HJ’s new 4-ton truck

Loading the 4-ton truck

1) Volunteer drivers

We are looking for volunteer drivers who can drive our trucks and pick up foods from our donors and deliver them to our agencies. Our staff will give you good trainings so that you can learn exactly how you conduct pick-ups and deliveries. Clean driving record is needed. We will make a photocopy of your driver’s liscense.

2) Driver’s club

We are also looking for volunteers who can make deliveries with his/her own car. Now we have five people in the driver’s club and they make food deliveries to agencies in Yokohama, Saitama, West Tokyo.

The followings are messages from our volunteers.
Mr. K: People at orphanages are very happy when I deliver foods. That makes me really happy. It’s very nice for me that I can volunteer at my own pace.
Ms. S: Meeting recipients gave me opportunities to know that I am being helpful to somebody. That gave me a happy feeling.

If you want to volunteer as a driver please contact us at volutneer@2hj.org. 

I know that the other volunteers will join me in welcoming Yayoi to the team, and I hope the below interview provides a good start for getting to know her!

Yayoi Sogo (left) with Patricia Decker, who served as volunteer coordinator since 2003.

Q: How did you find out about 2HJ?
Actually, I only found out about it recently. I had been interested in social entrepreneurship and non-profit organizations (NPOs) that support the socially disadvantaged, and I wanted to find a job that would let me provide such people with the things they need, thereby delivering hope and strength to them as well. At the beginning of 2008, I went to New York to visit some NPOs and find out how I could get involved but, since I also do other work, I was having trouble figuring out how I could balance my time and attention between both types of work. Just then, a friend saw a program featuring 2HJ on TV and told me about it.

Q: What made you decide to work at 2HJ?
I believe that at the very least, as we all carve out our path in life, each and every person should be ensured a basic living standard and a fair start. The fact that 2HJ’s activities focus on providing that most basic necessity—food—really resonated with me. My particular interest was in fighting poverty, but I learned that 2HJ’s deal not just with helping the needy, but also with making good use of foods that would have gone to waste (because of nearing expiration dates and other reasons), so we’re naturally involved in addressing environmental and other societal problems.

What really sealed my decision to work at 2HJ, though, was the fun experience of working together with the volunteers. Seeing such a large number of volunteers come together to make a huge amount of food for the soup kitchen, and the feelings of happiness and fulfillment I got from working as a team to make the food, brought back memories of the fun I’d had at my high school culture festivals.

Q: What do you do at 2HJ?
I basically coordinate the volunteers. The main volunteer activities happen Thursday through Saturday, so throughout the week I act as the point person for recruiting and signing up the number of volunteers needed for the activities, and on the day of the activities I assign the job responsibilities and oversee all the work.

Q: How do you spend your time when you’re not at 2HJ?
I work as a conference interpreter. Doing simultaneous interpretation, you work in a booth in total isolation; if you lose your concentration for even a moment, you miss what’s being said and can’t do your job. For me, it’s almost like some kind of ascetic training, trying to find that point where I cease to be aware of my own existence and can truly focus. The active cooperation of working with various people to produce something at 2HJ is the polar opposite of interpreting, and I feel that both are necessary jobs for my life.

Q: What are your hopes for contributing to 2HJ?
My first impression of 2HJ’s volunteers was of the overwhelmingly abundant number of people who signed up for or were interested in volunteering, as well as the fact that many of the volunteers were non-Japanese and had experience volunteering in their own countries. The volunteers are diverse not just in terms of nationality; they represent a variety of ages, viewpoints, and backgrounds. I’m realizing day by day what a treasure trove of resources this diversity amounts to. I think the richness of its volunteer base is 2HJ’s strength, and my goal is to make the best use possible of that invaluable power.

Interviewer: Patricia Decker

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Making something that’s “not quite perfect” useful to society. This new angle reveals wealth and strength that give insights into every aspect of our own lives.

What is food banking?

Perfectly edible food is thrown away in large amounts every day. A label might be crooked, or a box might be dented. “Not quite perfect” means not saleable; just one imperfection is enough. At the same time, in the supposedly affluent country of Japan, many people have trouble affording the food they need.

Taking food that would otherwise have been thrown away and redirecting it to those who need it: this is the work of a food bank. Food companies reduce their disposal costs while people in need save on grocery bills. This unique system provides a new social service that benefits everyone by transforming “what a waste” into “thank you.” Food banking has entered the public limelight, and efforts are under way to spread the activity throughout Japan.

A little thing, something you can do. A lot of those little things put together can add up to a power that changes society. This book is offered with a hope that each person who reads it will be inspired to take a fresh look at how they eat and live, even just a little.

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Details
Language: Japanese
Length: 200 pages

Orders
Please order at your local bookshop, or contact:
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Contents for 2008 Issue No. 2 include:

-Chilled deliveries with new vehicle
-Growing with new warehouse space
-Daikon gleaning
-Global FoodBanking Network visit
-Volunteer story: Friday cooking
-2HJ news bites

Click to view 2008 Issue No. 2 [PDF: 2,665 KB]

Sixteen food bankers from ten different countries representing a range of different stages on the development spectrum participated in the training. Some food banks had been around for many years delivering several tons of food each day, while others were just beginning to develop a systematic means of picking up and delivering food. South Africa, to which GFN made a significant commitment by assigning two full time staff to the country, was making the transition from independent food relief operations to a national network of food banks. That country’s story was by far the most fascinating because representatives from the various food relief operations and the government were present. Each party had its own take on what was actually happening, the struggles being faced, and the very real challenge of balancing the needs and interests of the various stakeholders. It will be interesting to see how successful GFN will be in helping this transition happen.

As the GFN representative member for Asia, 2HJ played a role in getting a seat for the representative from the Philippines. Food banking there is in its early planning stages and it was very helpful for the country’s representative to meet representatives from countries with similar socio-economic challenges to learn how they have been able to develop food banking. The training visit was also an opportunity for 2HJ to continue to network and make contact with donor companies such as Kellogg and Procter & Gamble, which are GFN supporters. Procter & Gamble wants to start making donations in Asia and has looked to 2HJ to provide the leadership in the region.

H-E-B, the largest supermarket chain in Texas with stores also in Mexico, hosted the GFN training at its headquarters in 2007 and 2008. Walking around the grounds of the headquarters and talking with the employees imparts a sense of what a truly progressive company can look like. While it is committed to its bottom line, H-E-B is also committed to food banking and has put in place innovative programs to reach those in need, from purchasing a mobile kitchen (see photo) valued at over $1 million and capable of producing 25,000 meals an hour, to working closely with the company’s reclamation center to make sure that tons of food donations are sent to food banks in Texas and Mexico each day. On top of this, the company has fundraising programs that allow customers to directly give money to food banks.

When H-E-B contributes relief supplies to communities hit by crises or national disasters, this mobile kitchen provides on-site food preparation.

Training and networking opportunities like this are important for 2HJ. They help us understand that our struggles are shared by other food banks and that we can offer assistance to other food banks as they start operations in their own country.

The new vehicle has made it possible for us to accept donations of frozen and refrigerated food, from frozen vegetables and beef to ice cream and other cool snacks. Frozen food lasts a long time, making it very valuable, but in order to deliver it, one must pass the strict standards of frozen food companies. The vehicle donated by Nu Skin Japan passes these standards easily. We have already successfully accepted donations from a range of frozen food makers without any difficulties.

In March, Executive Director Charles McJilton and new staff member Masahiro Otake drove from Tokyo to Miyazaki, over 1,000 kilometers, dropping in to make deliveries at facilities in Osaka, Kobe, and other places along the way. Their final destination and inspiration for the trip was a Miyazaki orphanage that had recently rebuilt one of its buildings. Charles and Otake arrived in time to deliver some celebratory ice-cream on the day of the building’s rakusei-shiki (completion ceremony). The refrigerated van kept the ice cream and other items safe all the way, as the children were delighted to confirm.

Offers to donate frozen food to 2HJ are still coming thick and fast, and thanks to everyone’s support we are able to take up these generous offers in an efficient and organized manner. We look forward to more “warm-hearted deliveries of well-chilled food.”

Writer: Yusuke Wada

What sounds like a streamlined slaughtering ritual, in reality is the daikon (i.e., Japanese white radish) harvesting routine of the 20 or so volunteers that answered 2HJ’s call to Okabe on Sunday February 24. They collected over 2 metric tons of daikon (from about 10 tons available on the field), all of which had been delivered to 2HJ’s recipients by February 27, only three days after the volunteers harvested them!

The following Sunday, March 2, a team of children (and their caretakers), aged from elementary to high school, took their turn and pitched in to harvest over 1.5 additional tons of daikon from the field. Coming from several of the homes to which 2HJ provides food, the children enjoyed the rare opportunity of harvesting their own food and eating it fresh from the field. The staff from the various participating children’s homes brought back a bounty of daikon to supplement meals at their agencies.

For 2HJ, it was the first time in its history that the organization literally lived up to its name by harvesting a field of donated vegetables. Due to this year’s early frosts, the usual daikon harvest period was cut short, leaving entire fields of the vegetable to the plough. Fortunately, one field of high-quality, mouth-watering daikon remained for 2HJ to gather.

Looking back, 2HJ’s Executive Director Charles McJilton stated: “I always wanted to bring such an event to life.” But the idea only gained momentum when 2HJ’s staff member Haijima-san revived the connection he had made with Mr. Karasawa (the main driver of this event on the Okabe community’s side) while working for a farmer in Miyazaki, Kyushu, before joining 2HJ. When the two met again after Haijima-san’s return to Tokyo, conversations about the details of vegetable cultivation eventually lead to reflections on if and how there might be opportunities for farming communities to contribute in their own way to 2HJ’s activities.

Farmers invest a tremendous amount of time and effort in growing crops and vegetables, “much like parents raising and educating their kids,” as Mr. Karasawa explains. It gives them a rather nauseous feeling watching the results of their efforts go to waste, be it because there are not enough hands available for harvesting all of it, or due to some follies of the change in season. Consequently, joining forces with 2HJ seemed like an optimal way to kill two birds with one stone: Not only did some of the yet unharvested daikon get harvested, but also there were people happily looking forward to such a highly valued addition to their menu.

Tired, cold, excited, covered from head to toe in soil blown upon us by the marrow-chilling wind and looking forward to dropping by the nearby onsen (i.e., local hot spring) before returning to Tokyo, all volunteers agreed that working in the fields and harvesting daikon with our own hands had taken the stress of city-life, at least temporarily, away from us. And, if only for a few hours, we had made the somewhat surprising discovery that country life was not all about sweet strawberries and gorgeous green meadows. The life of a farmer can be tough—and the strong winds, blinding us at times, forcing us to swallow more than the odd grain of soil and sand, served as a good example of how tough that life can be.

As the first time ran so smoothly and was a positive, educational and last but not least fun experience for all participants, 2HJ hopes to continue this newly set up collaboration with the Okabe agricultural community, and maybe even set up links to other communities in the future.

And, as 2HJ is now looking into converting this originally one-off event into a regular, maybe twice-a-year activity, I am looking forward to another of those rare opportunities where I get to work with my hands. Maybe I will be allowed once more the occasional glimpse to the panorama of the snow-covered Northern Alps rising at the horizon. No doubt at the end of another such day I will again fall into my bed with a rare but soothing, satisfactory feeling of having accomplished a truly productive day.

Writer/Photographer: Pamela Ravasio