On April 12th, CIE received a phone call from Megumi Inouye, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Grassroots Summit 2010.
The students at her daughter's school, Lick Wilmerding High School, had collected 500 backpacks and filled them with school supplies and messages to support and extend friendship to the children of Ishinomaki. The package was due to be sent via a no-cost freight to Japan in 3 days time and Megumi wanted to ensure it would be safely delivered to the town of Kahoku in Ishinomaki.
 CIE staff were very surprised to receive this call, and touched by the generosity of the students. Madeline, Megumi's 16 year old daughter together with school mate Oliver Yoakum Gonzales had given a presentation at their school sharing photos and stories about their experience participating in the Japan-America Grassroots Summit in 2009 in Miyagi with their mothers. They dedicated their presentation to their friends in Miyagi and thanked their classmates and school for directing their Japan Relief efforts to this personal connection they had with this now devastated region.
 Another student at Lick Wilmerding High School also had ties with Japan and CIE. Kayla Abe is the daughter of Donna Fujii , who was a local tour leader during the 2010 San Francisco Summit. When Donna heard that the students wanted to help those affected by the earthquake by sending school supplies, she quickly arranged a donation from the Chinatown Rotary Club to purchase backpacks and school supplies. We also heard that Dorothy Yuki who was one of the leaders of the SF Summit Art Committee donated a banner and additional supplies collected from her daughter's school.
Unfortunately, if there was no one to receive and take responsibility for the goods in Japan, they could not be sent on to Ishinomaki. By coincidence, Nobuyuki Mori, a Senior Advisor to CIE is also a board member of JEN, a disaster relief NGO, with whose cooperation the package was safely delivered to Ishinomaki.
The bigger surprise was that Megumi decided to come to Japan on behalf of Lick Wilmerding High School to personally deliver the goods to the children. She had been working on this High School project together with her friend Ishinomaki International Friendship Association's Emiko Kuga to determine needs and ways to support this region. Ms. Kuga was also the Ishinomaki leader for the 2009 Summit where Megumi first met her. She shared with us that it was because of her friendships and fond memories of her stay that compelled her to return.
The day after she arrived in Japan, she was able to meet and talk with elementary and middle school students, and some of their parents, in the Mayor of Ishinomaki's office and pass out the packages herself. She also visited the nearby High School and passed out presents from the American students. She thanked the city of Ishinomaki for their warm welcome during both her daughter and her home stay in their region during the Summit and wanted everyone to know that many in the San Francisco Bay Area were thinking of them with love and concern. Whilst in Japan, Megumi was lost for words as she saw the devastation in Ishinomaki, Sendai and Onagawa, but was also happy to reunite with her friends from the Summit, despite the circumstances. The school supplies will certainly be put to good use, and the messages from the San Francisco students will bring encouragement and hope to the residents of Ishinomaki.
This heartfelt support for the region which has suffered unimaginably is a testament to the links and friendships made during Grassroots Summits.
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