April 24, 2011, Miyagi, Japan — Food for Life Global affiliate FFL Japan provided over 1000 kgs of fresh fruits and vegetables on Sunday to shelters in Wataricho Shiyakysho in the Miyagi-ken district. To make the food a special offering to the people of Miyagi, the volunteers first unloaded the produce in front of the Krishna Temple Cultural Centre altar on Saturday. They offered prayers so that the food would be blessed and purified. “We call this high-energy food,” said temple president Naganatana Das. “By doing this, the food becomes nourishing for body, mind, and soul.” The 1000 kgs of produce were loaded back onto the truck in preparation for the long 5-hour drive the following morning. Mr. Fujita-san and Mr. Murata-San arose early in the morning to drive the product to the shelters passing by the edge of the radiation zone along the way.
FFL Director for Japan, Shrikant Shah, talks about food distribution.
FFL Japan emergency relief Playlist
Week 3 Plans
“We plan to provide cooked meals for 726 people at two of the shelters when we go next Sunday,” said FFL Global director for Japan, Shrikant Shah. “Our aim is to continue this effort for the next 6 weeks and hopefully beyond,” he explained. The task of acquiring so much produce, purifying it, and then making the long trek to Miyagi every Sunday is a huge task for this small group of volunteers. Food for Life Japan is a very small NGO with only a handful of fulltime volunteers. “Most of the help comes from members of the Indian business community who donate money and their valuable time to keep the effort going,” said Volunteer coordinator Madhu Mangala Das. “Even their children are getting involved.” Last Sunday’s efforts were supported by donations from Food for Life Global, as well as the following individuals and companies:
- L&T Infotech provided various miscellaneous items, including 50 Safety Goggles, 308 face masks, 600 spoons, forks, and plates, as well snack bars, biscuits, and candy for children.
- Mr. Vishal Bulbule ( Kojimacho, Nishi-Kasai ) 10,000 JPY
- Mr. Sujatha Mohan ( Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, ) 10,000 PY
- Mr. Srinivas Palepu ( San Jose, USA ) 50,000 JPY
- Mr. Avinash Wagh ( Ojima ) 10,000 JPY
- Mr. Rohan Agarwal 10,000 JPY
- Mr. Anup Agarwal 10,000 JPY
- Mr. Shrikant Shah 10,000 JPY
- Mr. Junsako Nakamura-San 5,000 JPY
- Mr. Tomoko Tarumi-San 5,000 JPY
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
An enormous effort is involved in procuring, preparing, and distributing the food. Food for Life Japan is appealing for help with shopping, packing, cutting vegetables, cooking, and cleaning, as well as donations in-kind and/or cash. Local volunteer Sanjiv Keswani made an appeal on behalf of the survivors, “Although many people have come forward to help FFL Japan, we still need a lot more support to continue. Please spread the word, but more importantly, please pray for the affected. Sincere prayers are mightier than the greatest Tsunami and will always help,” he pleaded.
WHERE CAN YOU SEND YOUR OFFERING?
Donations of produce or personal supplies may be delivered at the Krishna Temple in Funabori, Japan.
(Krishna Temple New Gaya Japan)
2-23-4 Funabori, Edogawa-ku,
Tokyo – 134-0091
Phone: 03-3877-3000
Mobile: 080-5412-2528,
080-5405-8977,
080-3753-5097
