Jewish relief efforts in Japan are focusing on the hard-hit northern city of Sendai, keeping two shelters in the coastal port stocked with food and distributing fresh bread from a local bakery.
"Our goal is to feed 5,000 people a day," said Chabad-Lubavitch of Asia director Rabbi Mordechai Avtzon, who is coordinating the distribution with Chabad-Lubavitch of Japan director Rabbi Mendy Sudakevich.
With food shortages rampant and rescue crews still recovering bodies from the rubble and the specter of a meltdown still hovering over the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan's worst humanitarian disaster in modern history has challenged the resources of foreign countries and non-governmental organizations.
"We get one bowl of soup or one piece of bread to share among three people," Ayumi Yamazaki, a 21-year-old refugee at an evacuation center in Otsuchi, told a representative of the Red Cross. "It's cold here, and [my daughter and niece] caught a cold, but just now we got some medicine."
Working in conjunction with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and JHelp, a Japanese emergency task force that typically helps out other countries after natural disasters, the Chabad Relief Initiative dispatched tons of food to Sendai from Tokyo late last week. Roy Somech, a representative of Chabad-Lubavitch of Japan, is supervising the Sendai effort. He and the owner of Sendai's Arpajan Bakery travelled to Osaka to purchase flour for the bread run. Because of road closures and weather conditions, what was supposed to be a 12-hour journey took more than 24 hours. Free bread at the Arpajan Bakery in Sendai drew lines of people over the weekend.
"Bread is currently being baked and distributed free of charge," said Avtzon. "Given the current situation, we anticipate operating the bakery on an exclusive humanitarian basis for at least one week. The daily production will cost us approximately $15,000."
In addition, the team plans to distribute 10,000 ready-to-eat meal rations each month once the Japanese customs authority grants its final approval.
According to Avtzon, JHelp has identified a mobile command center and satellite phone bank as a pressing need.
"Many of the volunteers who are risking their lives have not been contacted due to poor telecommunications," said the rabbi, who estimated the cost for renting and transporting the facility at $40,000 per month.
He urged people to contribute to the effort through the JapanJewishRelief.com website. via chabad.org
