Project Report
| Feb 27, 2020
Baseball Project 2020
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Thank you so much for your generous donations so far this year!
The junior high school baseball players who have participated in our past Baseball Projects for Natural Disaster Survivors and their coaches and parents keep sending us wonderful feedback. They all learned so much and gained lots of confidence and life skills that will help them throughout their lives on and off the baseball field.
This year, in addition to supporting the next generation living in areas impacted by natural disasters, we want to support Kumamoto in its continued efforts to rebuild after the devastating earthquake in 2016.
Since our last report, we have been very busy further preparing to bring junior high school baseball players from Tohoku to Kumamoto this autumn to participate with their peers in Kumamoto in the 2020 Baseball Project for Natural Disaster Survivors. We must complete all of the preparations and fundraising over the next six to seven months.
With your generous support, we will bring together and provide junior high school baseball players and their coaches from Kumamoto and Ishinomaki with baseball, leadership, teamwork, communications, disaster preparedness and sustainability training and have them participate in a volunteer activity.
Kumamoto experienced several earthquakes in April 2016 including a 6.2 magnitude (on the Japanese scale) earthquake on April 15th and a 7.0 magnitude earthquake (on the Japanese scale) in April 16th. More than 50,000 people were evacuated from their homes and more than three years later many are still living in temporary housing. Many of the buildings, including schools and the iconic Kumamoto Castle, were severely damaged. Kumamoto is still very much a city undergoing long-term reconstruction.
Ishinomaki in Tohoku was one of the areas most severely impacted by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A 33 foot wall of water traveled more than three miles inland leveling 80% of the homes and destroying many other buildings. Nearly nine years later Ishinomaki is still rebuilding and many are still living in temporary housing.
In both cities, school buildings and sports training facilities were impacted. For example, sports fields have been used as locations for temporary housing and schools have needed to be repaired or reconstructed.
There is still lots to be done by next autumn! We are meeting with Major League Baseball representatives to organize the baseball training workshops. In addition, we are meeting with sponsors and potential sponsors to arrange for in-kind and other donations. And we are in regular communication with the local junior high schools, junior high school baseball coaches, baseball players and their parents. And we are closely monitoring any developments in Tohoku and Kumamoto concerning the coronavirus.
Thank you once again for your generous support and for making it possible for us to provide baseball, leadership, teamwork, communications, disaster preparedness and sustainability training to all these promising young kids who are -- and will continue to be -- leaders and role models in their local communities. We still need many more donations for this Project and are forever grateful for your support.
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