May 25, 2011

The Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) announced today that it is working in cooperation with ADRA Japan to provide sets of household items for all of the temporary and leased housing for evacuees in Fukushima Prefecture (about 35,000 households). The Red Cross Society of Japan will be distributing sets of six appliances for each household and AAR will provide the rest of the necessary items (kitchen items, sanitary items, cleaning items, etc.). The funding is being provided by Japan Platform. The area covered by AAR includes the Soma region (including the towns of Soma, Minamisoma, Shinchi, and Iitate) and the Futaba district (the towns of Tomioka, Kawauchi, etc.). AAR is working with the local chambers of commerce to ensure that as much of the procurement of supplies as possible is done locally in order to spur the economy. AAR is also working in cooperation with the local governments of towns like Tomioka, Kawauchi, and Iitate, where residents were forced to evacuate because of the accident at the nuclear plant, and they are trying to reflect the voices of those evacuees in their efforts.

“Click fundraising” is a new trend in relief efforts in Japan. Canon, for example, has just launched a new phase of its Furusato (Hometown) project, which usually supports environmental initiatives throughout Japan. Visitors to their website can click on a specific project and the company will donate ¥1 per click to that project. Starting yesterday, however, it will also donate ¥1 per click to an earthquake fund that will go to six Japanese NPOs—the same organizations receiving funds from Give One. Fiat Japan has similarly created a website where they will donate funds to Peace Winds Japan for each click.