Many thanks again to everyone who helped raise money for Kumamoto Earthquake Relief!
We have another update from Kyushu, but this time from the recipients of our donations.
They have sent us pictures showing us how the money we donated back in May is serving their community.
Please see below!
Yuuka Ogata, shown on the right sends us these photos:
Yuuka works for the City Government of Kumamoto. Although she is also a victim of the earthquake, she volunteers her time outside of work organizing volunteers for the city’s evacuation sites. Right after the earthquake, she came in contact with the couple shown in the picture below on the left. This couple owned and operated a restaurant in the city called ‘Umakaya’, a Japanese home-cooking-style restaurant. The earthquake forced them to close down their business. Although their restaurant was inhabitable after the earthquake, they had a desire to donate their working kitchen tools to help their community. They reached out to Yuuka and together they have donated their time and materials to cook meals at local evacuation sites.
With our donated funds, Yuuka and this husband and wife team, have fed 30 hot meals 3 times at 3 different evacuation sites in their city.
These photos from Yuuka were taken at the beginning of this month. Many people still live in evacuation sites (since the earthquake occurred on April 16th) and these hot meals are an important service that sustains the health and spirit of those still living without homes. Thank you Yuuka and her team of volunteers for all your hard work!
Miki Kawasaki shown on the right, sends us these photos:
Miki is a mother and together with Sonoda-san (shown on the left) who is also a mother, they are part of a special group of mothers working to make healthy school meals for the children of Kumamoto.
Sonoda-san is the leader of this group, and Miki volunteers for Sonoda-san despite having a full time job and raising 2 children. They both try very hard to help others despite their busy lives.
Healthy and hearty soups have been a popular lunch menu item for children because all parts of the ingredients they source from local farmers are used and not wasted. Because the group is operated by mothers, they choose their ingredients carefully with great attention to nutrition.
We hope you have a better understanding of the current situation in Kumamoto and how your donations are serving the community!
Thank you to all that helped from Tortoise and all our friends in Kyushu!