Building on Mercy Relief (MR) Team 5’s distribution of fresh food supplies such as vegetables and fruits to help inject nutrition and normalcy into the diets and lives of more than 13,000 survivors in Otsuchi, MR Team 6 today established a cold storage facility at Otsuchi Supply Depot in Iwate.  Freezers and fridge were personally procured, delivered and installed upon the request of the local authorities.  With the new 5,000-litre cold storage space, the Supply Depot is now able to receive and safely retain larger amounts of fresh food supplies including vegetables and meat from the prefectural government.Last Thursday, the second batch of 80,000 ready-to-eat red bean soup arrived in Ishinomaki for distribution.

MR Chief Executive Hassan Ahmad shared, “The scale of devastation is massive with scores of coastal communities, spread over 500 kilometers, affected.   MR has been operating at the 2 worst-affected Tohoku prefectures of Iwate and Miyagi since Day 3 of the disasters.  MR’s objective is clear –to personally support the local authorities’ valiant efforts to stabilize the ground situation by filling in the gaps which are found due to the wide geographical area of coverage.  Our first-hand experiences from previous major disasters in the region also helped us and our partners maintain objectivity, hence greater accuracy in addressing the changing needs on the ground”.

MR is currently serving the affected areas which are a safe distance outside the radiation-hazard zone (officially 30km radius of the nuclear reactors’ location).  The MR teams are equipped with radiation sensors to help detect and monitor the radiation levels at the locations of their operations.  To further facilitate and ensure the team’s safety and quick evacuation, a dedicated unit at the MR Headquarters in Singapore continues to monitor the radiation alerts and advice from the Japanese Government and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

(The 5,000-litre freezers and fridge arrived at the military-run Otsuchi Supply Depot, Iwate.)

(left) A local nutritionist delightfully inspects the new facility. (centre and right) Fresh food supplies can now be stored safely pending distribution.)

((left) Official handover at the Depot. (right) Members of MR Team 6 with local partners, after the installation of the facility.)

Fundraising Efforts in Singapore –Day 41

Donations received : S$2,100,654

About Mercy Relief

Mercy Relief is a Singaporean humanitarian organisation which engages in both disaster relief and sustainable development programmes. It was established in 2003 as an independent non-governmental humanitarian charity responding to the human tragedies in Asia. Mercy Relief’s aid programme focuses on providing timely and effective assistance to disaster-stricken communities and has maintained the delivery of emergency aid within 72 hours from the point of appeal for assistance.  

In the past 12 years, Mercy Relief has disbursed over S$32 million in aid across 40 disaster relief and 53 sustainable development initiatives. Mercy Relief has impacted an aggregate of 2 million lives in 24 countries and areas, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal,  Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Yemen.

For more information, you may call us at 6514 6322 or email corporateaffairs@mercyrelief.org

Share this article!
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •