On February 27, Kumamoto Consumers Cooperative Union held a "Thank you ceremony" to render appreciation to the numerous assistance the prefecture received during and after the disaster of the Kumamoto earthquake in April 2016.

The Kumamoto Consumers co-operative Union has been working with nationwide co-operatives and organizations to provide support supplies, assistance for the elderly and disabled and the support for relocation.

As a keynote address, the Chairman of the Kumamoto Prefecture Consumers Co-operative Union Mr. YOSHINAGA Akira expressed his thanks to the various donors for sharing the thoughts of the victims and the reconstruction of the area. 135 people from 62 organizations including representatives from co-ops nationwide participated in the event.

The first part of the ceremony began with reports from disaster areas including the activities of the Kumamoto-city Council of Social Welfare after the disaster by Ms. NAKAGAWA Naoko, making reference to their initiatives in cooperation with the local co-ops.

Thereafter there was a report entitled "Welfare Evacuation Center - a connection of support" from Mr. KOIDE Teruyuki, Deputy Board of Directors, Kumamoto Prefecture Welfare Co-operative for Elderly People with Disabilities. He talked about the safety of disabled people in disaster situations and how they could live with a sense of security and appreciated the efforts made in establishing the evacuation facility. He further mentioned that with the facility it was possible to hold group studies on nutrition and talked about devices to provide handmade meals that could be useful in one’s home life.

Also the Managing Director of Kumamoto Prefecture Consumers Co-operative Union, Mr. OTANI Nobuhiro reported about the Kumamoto Earthquake and the support from Co-ops nationwide making reference to his own experience and the setting up of "Joint Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters" which utilized the basic policy from the past earthquake experience.

In the second part, there was a keynote lecture entitled "The role of disaster volunteers as seen in the Kumamoto earthquake and what can be expected" by Mr. KIMURA Tadaharu, General Manager of the Kumamoto Prefecture Welfare Town Planning Department. He talked about how to strengthen the acceptance of and cooperation with volunteers amidst disaster response.

Subsequently, a relay talk was held entitled "What I felt through the disaster, what I should not forget" with the emphasis on the necessity to support voluntary workers and the efforts to support cooking which was said to be important for the creation of bonds in the future disaster support activities.

In the panel discussion, panelists from Mashiki Town Office, Disaster Volunteer Activity Support Project Conference, Japan Health and Welfare Co-operative Federation, Green Co-op Kumamoto, discussed "The role of co-op in large-scale disasters".

There was also a remark that collaborating at the time of disaster is "a face to face activity" that paves way for making relationship with the people in the community.

At the social gathering, as a guest greeting Mr. KABASHIMA Ikuo, the Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture also gave thanks for the various support received nationwide and promised to restore life into the area based on the restoration and reconstruction plan formulated in August last year.