What is Chari-Tea Shop Project?

It was back in the early winter of 2017 that this project has started.

The year before, in 2016, there were many natural disasters in Japan:

   - Kumamoto earthquake on April 14
   - Typhoon #10 of August 30
   - Central Tottori Earthquake on October 21
 

And each disaster relief group was carrying out its support activities in each disaster area.

We, “Y84 Rovers” (Another name for the Scouts of Yokohama Group 84 Rover Crew) also at the time were involved in relief activities in Iwaizumi-Cho, Iwate Prefecture, which was devastated by Typhoon #10.

Support funds were raised by cloud funding and donations, and food distribution and relief supplies were sent as needed after consulting with local coordinators.
 

However, there is a limit to the funds that can be used when it comes to ongoing support activities. And, we could not just depend on conventional donation and fundraising such as a call for donation at the public places for a disaster relief support which is very common in Japan whenever there was a disaster.

We have needed the funds and effective approach for sustainable support activities of current and future disaster area.

The conclusion was to initiate a support activity with a small group of friends, two or three people together, and seek a way that will be less burden for raising a found to support new disaster area.

Also, have people casually enjoy merit so that they will reach out for support, and make sure people of the local community can able to provide their minimum support for fundraising while enjoying it.

Y84 Rovers decided to hold a popcorn shop at a local community event based on the experience in the "Children's Waku-Waku Group" of the disaster area support activities sponsored by the Central District of Kanagawa Council Disaster Relief Committee.

If we can get enough funding, you can achieve most of our goals, but we would like to maximize its result. If possible, we want also people in non-disaster areas to have awareness of disaster reduction. It is also important to note that the disaster-stricken areas are still on a long road to recovery. But the dark image and tragic feeling of the disaster doesn't match the popcorn shop.

Thus, we came up with the idea of a charity shop that promotes activities to support disaster areas as easily as riding a bicycle (Chari = a short name for bicycle) and a cup of tea for time break.

This is how the name of “Chari-Tea Shop” (= Charity Shop) was found.

Rovering is not just a simple scouts activity, but also an activity that contributes to the local community.

We provide a place where people of all ages, men, and women who wish to participate in disaster relief activities and the opportunity to participate as much as possible in a simple way.

We actually went to the disaster area and opened a Chari-Tea Shop, and provided a place for communication and enjoy to those who suffer from the disaster. Chari-Tea Shop is an activity that provides a place where children can forget a little while about disasters and feel relieved from everyday strain, therefore it is a place where children can play comfortably.

Chari-Tea Shop, working with the local communities of the disaster area and non-disaster area, has conducted 16 events from 2017 to July 2019. Details of each event posted on Facebook, Chari-Tea Shop, in Japanese, and will be updated with future event report.

*** Service Hours : 68 persons X 90 hours = 6,120 Service Hours

         （Reported by MoP Japan Group on behalf of Yokohama Group 84, SAJ）