Operation Soccer Tomodachi (Ended May 27)

The MS and HS soccer teams took it upon themselves to help out a a soccer club in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture. This club is more than just a soccer club but really a community centre and a focal point of the local area. Anyway they lost everything in the tsunami and we stepped in to try to help them recover and rebuild the club. After consulting with the manager about what they needed most, money which the students, parents and teachers donated in various ways has been used to buy goalposts. The new goalposts were delivered on May 27. The soccer club, Cobaltore, had arranged an event to celebrate the occasion but the typhoon and heavy rain caused it to be cancelled. See photos of the Cobaltore club with their new goalposts here.

Contributions welcome:

• Monetary donation

Organized by St. Mary's soccer coaches. Ends May 27.

Teachers pitch in to help clean up in Tohoku (Ended May 1)

A group of St. Mary's teachers put in a weekend of volunteer labor in Ishinomaki during Golden Week, clearing sludge from homes and public offices, and helping survivors locate and recover their belongings.

• Read an account of their inspiration, the people they encountered and the work they did.
• See the photo gallery.
• Nadia for Ishinomaki

Contributions welcome:

• Volunteer effort

Organized by St. Mary's teachers. Ends May 1.

Open field for middle school students (Ended April 16)

The school field and tennis courts will be open Saturday, April 16, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. for middle school students who want to play basketball, soccer or throw frisbee. Donations will be accepted in support of the Japanese Red Cross. Please encourage the boys to come along.

Contributions welcome:

• Monetary donation

Organized by Mark Van Den Bossche. Ends April 16.

Paid dress-down day raised more than 420,000 yen (Ended April 15)

St. Mary's students, faculty and staff raised ¥421,990 on April 15 through a Paid Dress-Down Day. Students shed their uniforms in favor of red and white to show their support for Japan and the relief efforts of the Japanese Red Cross Society. The Elementary School raised ¥300,508; the Middle School ¥50,489; and the High School ¥70,993.

Contributions welcome:

• Monetary donation

Organized by St. Mary's International School. Ends April 15.

Boy Scout Pancake Breakfast (Ended April 13)

The Boy Scouts will hold a pancake breakfast Wednesday, April 13, in the cafeteria from 7–8 a.m. All proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross through St. Mary's. Come out and show your support!

Contributions welcome:

• Monetary donation

Organized by Mr. Frank Striegl and the Troop 15 Boy Scouts. Ends April 13.

Weekend relief wrap-up (Ended April 10)

A big thank you for the ¥60,000 from the pay dress down day on Friday; ¥60,000 from the Middle School bake sale; over ¥240,000 from the Baseball Team Saturday fund-raiser; more than 80 boxes of toys gathered by the Cub Scouts; more than 40 boxes of goods for Ishinomaki; and more than 300 boxes for Kesen-numa, including 20 boxes of Japanese books. A big thanks also to the untold number of parents, students and staff who donated, sorted, stacked, stored, and then helped load the trucks.

Mrs. Ito, a St. Mary's parent, graciously donated a 2-ton truck and driver, who took the Japanese books to Kesen-numa.

Meanwhile another St. Mary's parent donated the services of a 10-ton truck. The truck arrived at St. Mary's on Sunday to carry the boxes to Kesen-numa. Special thanks to a band of students, parents, Br. Michel, Br. Lawrence and Br. Jean-Pierre, who loaded the truck in less than 30 minutes!

Let's keep the spirit alive and moving!

Organized by St. Mary's students, parents, faculty and scouts. Ends April 10.

Thank you message for Kesen-numa donations (Ended April 10)

Dear St. Mary's Community,

Thank you so very much for your donations to the Relief Supplies Drive for Kesen-numa city. The shipment arrived at Kesen-numa on the morning of Monday, April 11.

I just spoke with Mrs. Saito, who is distributing items to people who in Kesen-numa who have lost their homes. She told me in a very happy voice that she really appreciates the generous donations from St. Mary's. She said that she could feel that these goods were from the heart of the school community.

Over 300 boxes full of great items such as jackets, clothes, books, stationary and fruit juice were picked up by a truck provided by a St. Mary's parent. Because the number of boxes was far more than we estimated, the St. Mary's parent advised that we use a 10 ton truck and provided it for us right away. It was a miracle happening right here at St. Mary's! We will send our next shipment with a truck that Ms. Ito (another St. Mary's parent) originally provided for the recent shipment.

Thank you to all the volunteers who worked so hard sorting and packing, and also for picking up boxes from different places. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you to all the students who helped move over 300 boxes and load them on the truck on Sunday. I was very thankful that we are a boys school with a lot of physical strength available! A special thank you also goes to the elementary students who wrote nice messages for the children in Kesen-numa. I am sure that the messages from our students will encourage and cheer lots of children and adults there.

Pictures of the truck being loaded

All the items we sent to Kesen-numa will be distributed to people who need to re-build their lives and homes. Mrs. Saito told me that many people need warm jackets, many schools need books and stationary items, and both adults and children need good nourishment. So thank you for the support which is so needed in Kesen-numa right now!

Thank you very much!

Yuko Ono
St. Mary's Elementary School Music Teacher

Thank you letter from Kesen-numa

Dear St. Mary's International School,

Thank you very much for sending the wonderful things that you collected at your school. I thank you for thinking of us, making the effort to help us, and sharing nice things with us. Thank you for all the teachers, parents and students who helped collecting, sorting, and packing.

We also thank the kind St. Mary's parent who donated the truck for delivering the 300 boxes in a 10-ton truck from Tokyo to Kesen-numa for free. We cannot thank you enough for your generous donation.

Thanks to you, all the boxes are now stored in our barn and garage and six families have already received your gifts. They lost their houses and are staying with their relatives. They were so thankful for the presents from you as they cannot receive relief supplies from the government because they are not staying in the shelters. They asked me to thank you for the warm jackets and daily items which they really needed. The lemonade you sent us tastes great.

We are going to bring the gifts from St. Mary's to large and small shelters, kindergartens and nurseries. Some of them are waiting very anxiously for the items from St. Mary's. So thank you very much for sending many things that lots of people need.

I will send you reports about how your gifts help people in Kesen-numa, and I would like to thank you again.

Thank you, St. Mary's!

Sincerely,
Yoko Saito

Organized by Yuko Onon. Ends April 10.

Titan Baseball Fund-Raiser: Titans vs ASIJ (Ended April 9)

The baseball team and parents will be holding a fund-raising event Saturday, April 9, to help raise money for the victims of the Tohoku earthquake. Please come and watch the Titans play cross-town rivals ASIJ Mustangs on Saturday, April 9, from 9 a.m. Donations and proceeds from food sales will go towards the Japanese Red Cross Society relief effort. Support the home team and help Tohoku. All are winners!

Contributions welcome:

• Monetary donation

Organized by St. Mary's Titans. Ends April 9.

Items for shelters in Kesen-numa city in Miyagi (Ended April 8)

Items needed:

• Clothes:
  • Warm jackets for adults and children
  • New underwear for young boys (100-150 cm size)
  • New socks for boys
  • New underwear — long sleeve shirt for ladies (L or LL size are especially needed)
• Vegetable and fruit juices
• Picture books for school (in Japanese)
• Stationary: pencils, pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners, notebooks, colored pencils, markers

Contributions welcome:

• Donation of goods
• Volunteer effort

Organized by Ms. Yuko Ono, St. Mary's music teacher, and other St. Mary's parents. Ends April 8.

Items for Shelters in Ishinomaki (Ended April 8)

Items needed:

• For kids: cello tape, gum tape, magic markers, pens, colored pencils, crayons, paper, scissors, stationery items.
• For adults: shoes, long boots, rain boots

Contributions welcome:

• Donation of goods
• Volunteer effort

Organized by Mr. Mike Rogers, a St. Mary's parent, who is working with his colleagues in the media to collect and deliver specific items to Ishinomaki. Ends April 8.

Thank you for your donations to Ishinomaki (Ended April 8)

Dear St. Mary's Community,

Thank you so very much for your donations to the Relief Supplies Drive for Ishinomaki Sunnet Nagomi, the disabled person's relief center in Ishinomaki city. The shipment was delivered on the afternoon of Saturday, April 9, 2011.

Ms. Takako Sasaki, the director of the disabled center, is overseeing the distribution items to the aged, disabled and children in the Ishinomaki area. She specifically told me to thank all of you — St. Mary's faculty, students and parents — for all your support.

Let me also say thank you to all the great people who pitched in to help our small effort at Ishinomaki and to those who helped out with the Kesen-numa drive too. Your help, time and very kind consideration will always be appreciated!

There is a documentary video of the Ishinomaki relief event available for your viewing on YouTube.

As is mentioned towards the end of the video, the efforts to help those who have lost their homes, livelihood and loved ones in the affected areas is not just an effort that needs to be addressed immediately, it is also an effort that will be ongoing as the extent of the disaster is still not fully known.

I hope that we can depend on all of your wonderful support once again.

Thank you so very much and, once again, let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time and kind consideration. You help make this world a little better place to live for all of us.

Best,

Mike Rogers

Contributions welcome:

• Donation of goods
• Volunteer effort

Organized by Mr. Mike Rogers, a St. Mary's parent, who is working with his colleagues in the media to collect and deliver specific items to Ishinomaki. Ends April 8.

Toy Collection by Cub Scout Pack 15 (Ended April 6)

Please send in clean, usable toys. Donations will be sent to the Japan Association of Play Therapy and transported to the disaster areas by UNICEF.

Contributions welcome:

• Donation of goods
• Volunteer effort

Organized by Cub Scout Pack 15, under the direction of Mr. Dave Nakabayashi. Ends April 6.

Thank you from Pack 15 for the Toy Drive (Ended April 6)

Dear St. Mary's Parents,

Our Toy Drive was a tremendous success. While we expected 30-40 boxes of toys, we counted 120 by the end of the third day. The toys have been delivered to the Japan Association for Play Therapy where they will now be sorted into play kits. These play kits will be sent to numerous play centers in the stricken area. Once there, trained therapists will use the play kits to help children overcome their trauma.

This Toy Drive only happened because of the support of many good people. Our thanks to Br. Michel for his quick decision to allow the Toy Drive to start just 3 days after the proposal. We thank the teachers and administrators who supported this drive by explaining to the students the purpose and importance of this drive. My special thanks to the volunteer parents of Pack 15 Cub Scouts who spent many days collecting the toys.

Most of all, words can't describe the spontaneous outpouring of generosity from the parents of St. Mary's. Personally, it makes me proud that my son is a student here.

For our other partners in this effort, Ms. Ono for the Kesennuma relief and Mike Rogers for needed goods to Ishinomaki, hats off to both of you. And I can't ignore the can-do spirit of Tony at DHL who would have delivered our goods if logistics bogged down.

This is a start for a long journey to help our friends just north of us. We may ask for your help again when the time arises. I know we can count on you.

Thank you,
Dave Nakabayashi
Pack Committee Chair
Pack 15, Cub Scouts
St. Mary's International School

Organized by Pack 15 Cub Scouts. Ends April 6.

IACJapan Disaster Relief Project (Ended April 3)

St. Mary's alumnus Paul Guilfoile (Class of 1973) and other IACJapan members took fresh fruit and other supplies to people living in shelters in Sendai. Read on for Paul's description and photos of the refugees in Sendai.

Contributions welcome:

• Donation of goods
• Volunteer effort

Organized by International Alumni Council Japan, Life & Desire Sendai, Second Harvest Group. Ends April 3.