Resource Center Food Drives

Sadly, many families in Okinawa are affected by poverty or hunger. Across the island, 1 in 4 children live in poverty and 50% of households have experienced a lack of money to buy food. In order to tackle these issues and help our neighbors in Okinawa, the OIST Resource Center has been organizing a biannual Food Drive since 2017 with help from OIST volunteers. This takes place before the long school holidays each year.

School-aged children receive school lunches in term time. However, many of them do not have enough food at home during the holidays. To support those families, the Resource Center asks for food donations from the OIST community. The donated food is brought to the local non-profit organization Second Harvest Okinawa by one of the volunteers, then distributed to the families in need. Thanks to the generosity of many OIST members, we were able to donate approximately 200kg of food during the last Food Drive.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of households that cannot secure enough food is increasing. We will continue this campaign so that we can support these families as much as possible.