To all jobsinjapan.com users,
We would like to invite jobsinjapan.com users to join us at a fundraising event this Saturday in Shinjuku for relief efforts in the Tohoku region. We will be joining Kokusaika's international friendship party in the banquet room of the Nishi Shinjuku Hotel.
One half of all guest admissions from jobsinajapan.com users will be donated to earthquake relief. We are also encouraging each guest to bring one dry/canned food item or other useful item from. We will have some boxes ready at the event and mail them that night by takyubin to Reverend Ken Joseph's Nihon Kinkyu Enjotai in Sendai, which has requested items to be sent. Anything that might be in your apartment and unused that you think might be useful would be welcome. See a list of requested items at the bottom.
Even if you are unable to attend please read the information about Nihon Kinkyu Enjotai, and consider sending them a package separate. They are requesting that people send things.
Please e-mail me for reservations. Tel. 03-3281-4303 for any questions on the events. (During the event 090-1847-5075). See Kokusaika's Web site http://www.internationalparty.com for the full March schedule.
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Event: Shinjuku International Friendship Party
Date: Mar. 26 (Sat.)
Time: 6:30-9:30 pm
Attendance: Approx. 150 people
Location: Nishi Shinjuku Hotel 9F banquet room, 7-14-14 Nishi Shinjuku-ku
Admission: Ladies Y3,000, Men Y3,500 w/e-mail res. by Fri.(+Y500 going directly)
Drinks: Open bar from 6:30-9:00 with bottled beer (Ebisu, Asahi & Kirin Stout), wine, cocktails and soft drinks. (bar closes at 9:00p.m.)
Food: Large English-style carvery with roast beef/pork, gravy, shephard's pie, veggies, cheeses, breads, fruit, homemade ice cream + pies & a large cake from Kyle's Good Finds Bakery.
Dress: Casual
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One half of each guest admission from jobsinjapan.com will be donated to the Japan Emergency Team (Nihon Kinkyu Enjotai). This group has been providing emergency assistance in Japan since 1975 and is run by the Reverend Ken Joseph and his son, the Reverend Ken Joseph, Jr. who are very well known and highly respected in Tokyo, and who have been very active in the international community in Japan since 1951.
There are so many people who really want to do something to help, but the problem has been where to send things and how.
I spoke to Reverend Joseph several times on the telephone this week. He's been in Sendai with a relief team since the 2nd day preparing meals and delivering relief with his team working out of and in coordination with the Sendai city hall. Tonight on the telephone he said things are still chaotic. His team is still serving meals, which aren't enough, and that they need lots of supplies.
Some items that were specifically requested are:
Canned, dry and instant foods, rice powdered milk, coffee, tea, cream, bottled water, electric water pots, sleeping bags, tents, used laptop computers and active wireless internet devices and airline mileage (for volunteers to move back and forth), 20 liter metal gasoline cans, disaster relief vehicles.
If each guest brought just one item to the event on Saturday, we could mail several large boxes that night from the nearby convenience store. If you are not able to attend the party, please consider putting a package together and mailing it to the address below. Reverend Joseph said that they will be in Sendai for six months and can use supplies whenever they arrive. He said volunteers who can go to Sendai even for a few days are also greatly needed, including people to take care of their laptops and answer e-mail and the phones. Reverend Joseph explained to me on the phone there are two types of people who are helping: those who are "doing" and those who are "organizing." He said his team has been incredibly busy cooking and delivering meals that there has been little time to answer e-mails and take care of backend gathering of supplies and funds. Thus, I wanted to help a little with the organizing part via our weekly announcement by letting people know where they can send !
help to.
The address to mail items to is:
Nihon Kinkyu Enjotai
c/o Sendai City Hall
3-7-1 Kokubun-cho
Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi-ken 980-8671
Tel. 0570-000-911 or 090-3080-6711 or 090-7170-4769
e-mail: team@jhelp.com (responses may be delayed)
See their Web site for information on cash donations which are also greatly needed: http://www.jhelp.com
You can also find more information about the Reverend Ken Joseph and his 60 years of work in Japan at http://www.kennyjoseph.com.
If the volume of items collected on Saturday is large enough and if there were any volunteers who wanted to go I might consider driving our van to Sendai on after the event on Saturday night. In any case we will make sure all the collected items are delivered along with our own cash donation of one half the admission from each guest from jobsinjapan.com.
Regards,
John
The devastating earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan on March 11 has already killed thousands of people, and the full effects have yet to play out. The long-term damage to human health from radiation leaks at the Fukishima nuclear power plants will take years, perhaps decades, to manifest. 
While heroic workers battle the threat of nuclear meltdown in Japan, a different kind of fallout seems to threaten the peace of those of us in the US. As fears that radioactive particles will float across the ocean and strike the United States escalate, we seem to be paying less attention to the tragic loss of life and peace in Japan and more on how this might hurt us right here at home.