On October 3, the Co-op Deli Consumers' Co-operative Union (Co-op Mirai, Ibaraki Co-op, Tochigi Co-op, Co-op Gunma, Co-op Nagano, Co-op Niigata, and Co-op Kuruco) donated about 3.2 million yen to Sado City in Niigata Prefecture from the money raised in the "The Sado Crested Ibis Supporting Rice Project" activity to support the promotion of environmentally friendly biodiversity agriculture on Sado Island and to help the return of crested ibis to the wild. On the day of the event, on behalf of the Co-op Deli Group, Mr. HASEGAWA Satoshi, the President of Co-op Niigata, and Mr.YAMAGUCHI Sakae, the President of Co-op Kuruco, presented an inventory to Mr.WATANABE Ryugo, the mayor of Sado City.

The crested ibis was widely distributed throughout East Asia in the early 20th century, but it has been declining due to overhunting and deterioration of its habitat and is now designated as an endangered species 1A. In April 2010, Co-op Deli, Co-op Niigata, and Sado City entered into a partnership agreement and launched "The Sado Crested Ibis Supporting Rice Project" to support the "Sado Crested Ibis Conservation Activities".

In this project,1 yen from every 1kg of "CO･OP Sado Koshihikari Rice" and 1 yen from every item of " CO･OP Sado Koshihikari grilled rice balls", and "Rice Meal made with CO･OP Sado Koshihikari"(3 packs) sold at the home delivery and store outlets of Co-op Deli Group are donated to the "Sado Crested Ibis Environmental Improvement Fund". By eating rice from Sado, co-op members support the production of rice that coexists with the crested ibis.

As a result, 60 crested ibises were established in 2014 and 220 in 2018, steadily reintroducing them to the wild, achieving the initial goal. In February 2020, the purpose of the original agreement was changed from "Sado Crested Ibis Conservation Activities" to" Sado Crested Ibis returning to Wild", and a new agreement was signed by the five parties including JA Sado and Co-op Kuruco.

The total amount of donations since 2010 at the start of the project has reached approximately 26 million yen in 10 years.