Dear Friends and Supporters, On the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami and on behalf of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC), the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund and the thousands supported through your generosity, I would like to thank you—not only for your donations, but for the love, prayers and hope that came with them. Everything changed for us at the JCCCNC on March 11, 2011. Our hearts were broken as we watched the earthquake and tsunami devastate the Tohoku region of Japan. We all wanted to help, but felt helpless. We all wanted to somehow turn hopelessness into hope, but we didn’t know how. We realized that as a Japanese American cultural and community center we needed to respond, just as we did during the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake.
Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California
The JCCCNC responded to the March 11 disaster by establishing the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund (Relief Fund/NJERF), committing 100% of all money received to the citizen-to-citizen relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts for the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. We could never have imagined how large and how quickly this Relief Fund could grow, and were overwhelmed by the outpouring of care and humanity that we received from all over the world. In this summary, we would like to share with you a small glimpse of what we have experienced since establishing the Relief Fund—the range of fundraising activities that took place: from small garage sales, school concerts and community events, to local businesses doing what they could. In the first few weeks, the number of supporters and donations to our Causes page was growing by the minute. Every dollar mattered and each dollar came with a message of hope for the survivors. Also documented is the remarkable work and accomplishments of the various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Japan that received support from the Relief Fund, many of which worked tirelessly to ensure that no one was overlooked during the most critical and difficult times. The success of the Relief Fund would not have been possible without the support of the thousands of donors, event organizers, organizations, businesses and volunteers in the community and around the world; as well as the NGOs, firstresponders and volunteers making a difference in Japan. Although many are still without their homes and it is said that it will take many years to fully recover, please know that our continued thoughts and prayers will bring hope and inspire the survivors to take the small steps needed to continue to carry on. There was something you could do, and you did! With sincere gratitude,
Dianne Fukami JCCCNC Board President 2010-2012
March 2014
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