Autumn has come to the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, which suffered from the “double disaster” of an earthquake and heavy rain, and it have been much cooler in the mornings and evenings these days. AAR Japan (Association for Aid and Relief, Japan) delivered autumn and winter clothes donated by be-s Co.,Ltd. which designs and sells outdoor goods, to evacuation centers and welfare facilities for people with disabilities in Wajima City.

On October 9, AAR delivered 16 winter outerwear, 15 fall outerwear, and 20 T-shirts to a group home ”Umi to Sora” in Wajima City. This group home has been a welfare evacuation center since the earthquake happened in January, and 12 disaster survivors who have lost their homes or have no way to rebuild their lives are currently staying, and the number of evacuees is expected to increase due to the recent flood.

The facility manager said, “Some users and staff have had their houses completely destroyed. Many of them have asked for fall and winter clothes because their household goods were washed away in the heavy rain, so we are very grateful for your support.” In addition to clothes, AAR provided drinking water, pre-packaged foods, nursing supplies, hygiene supplies, etc., which were also delivered at the time of the earthquake in January.

AAR delivered fall outerwear and T-shirts for 68 people to a community center in Wajima City on October 10. 17 people are currently evacuated to this community center and 51 people to an adjacent elementary school. Some areas are still with power and water outages, and roads are impassable due to landslides.

A staff member of the community center said, “We have been working since New Year’s Day without a break to accept evacuees due to the earthquake. But this happened due to heavy rain just when we thought we could finally take a vacation..” Still, she said with a smile while holding an autumn outerwear that AAR had supported, “It’s warm. It is going to get colder in Noto from now on, so I will distribute them to the evacuees as soon as possible”.

We would like to thank be-s Co.,Ltd. from the bottom of our hearts for their assistance. AAR will continue to deliver warm clothes donated by them and other relief supplies. We would like to ask for your continued cooperation for the Noto Peninsula earthquake and heavy rain.