Please make it stop
Posted on April 15, 2011
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A 7.4 quake today with more deaths and serious injuries delayed a Kozmoz aid truck heading to Ishinomaki. There have 5 major quakes today from between 5.5 and 6.5 with tsunamis of up to 2 meters swaying buildings as far away as Tokyo, causing power outages and hampering aid activities throughout the Tohoku region north and east of Tokyo. With hundreds of aftershocks since the March 11th quake and tsunami many are praying that the shaking will stop once and for all.
Japan News
Posted on April 10, 2011
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Truck leaving tonite-april 4th
Each week as our trucks are full we are delivering needed aid and supplies to the victims of the tsunami. This time we will be delivering north of Ishinomaki in a very hard hit area. Don't worry if you did not get your donations in for this truck, they can be on the next truck that leaves in a few days. Thank you for your support and please continue to deliver or send needed items to our Kyoto center.
- Where do donations go?– april 3rd
It is good to know how your money is used by different organizations so that your money is used as you intended. Some organizations like KOZMOZ focus on immediate aid thru delivering foodstuffs, volunteers, and needed supplies directly to ground zero. Other agencies such as the Red Cross Japan focus on after crisis care and ongoing support. As of now, not one yen of the donations to the Red Cross nor the General Fund of Japan have been translated into aid for the earthquake victims. Read more
I love Japan
Posted on March 12, 2011
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No, that is not a scene from some war torn country. Those are Japanese soldiers carrying one of my japanese brothers that fell victim to the devistating earthquake and tsunami a week ago…
There is an old addage that says, “you don’t know what you have until it is gone”. And I have lost something precious. The Japan where 3 of my children were born, where I have spent over 1/3rd of my life, ?where I have learned the greatest lessons of my life has been wounded and brought to her knees.
As we speak, and weep, ?less than a days drive there are 4 nuclear reactors in possible meltdown. True Heros have battled all week to keep things in check but difficulty after difficulty have nutered there efforts. As a hail Mary, they continue to pump sea water thru a chain of pump trucks to keep spent fuel rods under water and to keep the core of the reactors full to keep them from melting down but it looks very bleek indeed. The power company has worked feverishly to get power restored to the pumps that keep the reactors cool… they are close but unseasonable cold weather has slowed the process. At least that is the news that just came through.
On a positive, there was a miraculous rescue of an infant 2 days ago that somehow survived like Moses in the Nile after being swept out of its mothers grip by the tsunami. And among the thousands and thousands of families with nothing but sad endings, this family was reunited. I fear the miracles are ebbing at this time do to time and the ravages of the bitter cold.
I pray for my Japan, I pray for my brothers, and I do what I can by taking food and supplies. This will be a long hard job in bringing my Japan back to health. But it is a labor of love. I will drive this truck from Kyoto to Tohoku many times over the next years.
I would love to have your help as well. – Barry
Kozmoz New York Coffee
Posted on February 21, 2011
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Kozmoz NY Coffee in Momoyama
Welcome to our New Cafe in South Kyoto. With an American menu of mostly imported ingredients, the flavor should appeal to anyone who misses the food from ‘back home’ or something that they enjoyed on a trip to the states. As with all Kozmoz enterprises, the staff are all volunteer and all proceeds go to provide for the Kozmoz Food Bank and aid activities in Japan. So if you are in Kansai please stop by and have some delicious NY cheesecake, a philly cheese steak, tostada or whatever the blue plate special is for the month. Of course you can wash it down with a hot cup of NY style coffee, herb tea or an ice cold Corona. Hope to see you soon!
Osaka Jets Rock!
Posted on November 20, 2010
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A cheerful Fushimi resident helping out
Kozmoz held our annual community fall food drive on Nov. 20th this year in in the Momoyama area of south Kyoto. Joining us were 23 young adults from the Osaka AJET Language teachers group, aprox 20 Doshisha Students from the International Volunteer Circle and many students and staff from the Kozmoz Family English Schools. The volunteers canvassed approximately 10,000 residences, collecting food for the less fortunate in Kyoto and Kansai. All in all they received almost 1000 kg of rice which was distributed to 2 local orphanages and used in the winter soup kitchens organized by Kozmoz in Kyoto and Osaka. Kozmoz has been organizing community food drives and food drives at local schools for years throughout Kansai to both help the less fortunate and educate the community about the needs that are yet to be met. In spite of the continued recession, this year we received more rice than ever before from households that themselves are struggling more and more. Our hats are off to them for their generosity and community spirit. As each year adds to the rolls of unemployed and freshly homeless, the needs require more and more help from community aid organizations like Kozmoz. If you have extra time on your hands and could help with deskwork, computerwork, driving, or community contacts, we would love to hear from you!
Food Drive
Posted on October 29, 2010
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a day in their lives
Most of us think nothing about where our next meal is coming from but for approximately 15 percent of our neighbors each day is a literal struggle to make it to the next. In more human terms, that means 1 out of 7 citizens of our nation live below the poverty line. Each year on Oct. 16th the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization brings this situation to light thru ‘ World Food Day’. Kozmoz International will be co-operating with the FAO again this year by hosting a food drives in Spokane Washington and Kyoto Japan. We will be collecting food from the 13th until the 20th of November . All of the food collected will be distributed to the local foodbanks and and aid agencies. If you would like your underprivileged neighbors in their time of need please contact us. You can make a difference!
We are as healthy as they are
Posted on September 14, 2010
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a checkup for our community
Inspite of all the efforts to secure health care for all, there is still a great number of people that fall between the cracks. Once again this fall, Kozmoz Japan has teamed up with several groups here in Kansai to provide health, dental, legal assistance and a nutritious meal to those in need at no cost. Several local health and legal professionals have donated their time, materials and resource to make sure that health and legal care is available to all. Even if we cant change everything, at least on September 12th the hungry were fed, the sick received medical care and the disadvantaged received legal help that otherwise they would not have access to.?A hearty thanks to all those that volunteered to help make our community a truly rich one.
Meet Toshi
Posted on March 7, 2010
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Toshi and Boaz
Just what kind of person volunteers at Kozmoz Japan?. Meet Toshi who is a housewife who also works part time. She one of our longest participating volunteer staff members here in Kyoto and has been sharing her wisdom, time and resources for more than?5 years. Lets ask Toshi a few questions about her time here at Komzoz Japan.
Q. What was it that interested you in working with Kozmoz?
A. ? Kozmoz’ Kansai project was a new and unknown world to me. I think that most Japanese would never know about food banking just like myself. We usually just donate money to people who are victims of disaster. But Kozmoz food bank is completely different. Companies can donate foods which are thrown away as? garbage. But much of the food is still edible.Read More Read more
Thank You!
Posted on January 30, 2010
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Kei Chan
Unfortunately our small local delivery van died and was beyond repair just before Christmas. For the Kozmoz Kyoto Foodbank, this meant curtailing our delivery schedule of foodstuffs to local orphanages, retirement homes and aid centers. With little of nothing left in the budget for a major purchase we were looking at a difficult beginning to 2010… However, one of our faithful supporters here in Kyoto donated this small van for local deliveries. A heartfelt thank you from all of us at Kozmoz Japan.
Do they know its Christmas?
Posted on January 12, 2010
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The Colonel
Every Christmas Kozmoz Japan sends a Christmas Feast to a different group of homeless in the Kansai region. This year we chose a homeless group near Fuse Eki in East Osaka. Our local contact, the Batman of Fuse arranged things on site and our volunteers and interns gathered at the Kyoto Center and made the feast. Extra large bentos with lots of energy and vitamins were topped off with Yuzu Basil Chicken Breasts slow roasted to perfection. They were gleefully received.
One of our ?American interns asked an interesting question. “Do we often get homeless dressed in suits taking advantage of food and healthcare support?” A recent phenomenon where company workers loose their houses with their jobs. And not just single people, families as well have been left in the cold.
Losing a house can be traumatic and not as easy to deal with as in other countries. In Japan, in order to get a house a person needs a cosigner, a report of residence, a job, first and last months rent and in many cases a gift of between 1000 dollars and 5000 dollars is common. This can be pretty difficult for someone recently unemployed and practically impossible for someone does not have family with a substantial cushion. For now, this is something that Kozmoz Japan has little ability to address but we will do our best to help educate about these kind of little known repercussions of more well known social problems.
We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years, and moreover helped to make someone else’ s Holidays special.?At least the homeless in Fuse, Osaka know that it is Christmas.
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