April 2010

Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace Allocates Emergency Aid for Chinese Earthquake Victims

The executive committee of Rissho Kosei-kai's Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace announced on April 23 that it was donating a total of 2.5 million Japanese yen in emergency relief of victims of the devastating magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Yushu in China's Qinghai Province on April 14. According to the Xinhua News Agency, as of April 19 the earthquake had killed 2,039 people and injured 12,135. It destroyed some 90 percent of the area's houses and damaged public infrastructure, such as roads, power lines, and so on.

At the request of the executive committee, Rev. Kenichiro Nakamura, minister of the Kyoto Dharma Center of Rissho Kosei-kai, traveled to China and delivered 500,000 yen to Ven. Chuan Yin, the newly elected president of the Buddhist Association of China, at a meeting of the Japan-China-South Korea International Buddhist Exchange Council in Beijing on April 21. The Buddhist Association of China had planned to entrust the funds to Buddhist temples and the Red Cross Society of China for the relief of victims.

On April 22 Rev. Yasutaka Watanabe, chair of the board of trustees of Rissho Kosei-kai, visited the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo to present two million yen to Ambassador Cheng Yonghua. Chair Watanabe was accompanied by Rev. Waichi Hoshina, general secretary of the Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace.

During their meeting with the ambassador, Rev. Watanabe expressed sympathy for the earthquake victims and said he prayed for the devastated area's rapid recovery. Rev. Hoshina explained that Rissho Kosei-kai's fundraising campaigns for peace are based on the Buddhist spirit of compassion, prayer, and donation.

Ambassador Cheng briefed his visitors on the relief activities under way, which were taking place on a plateau 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level. He said that the rescue workers, unused to the high altitude, wore oxygen masks. He expressed China's thanks for Rissho Kosei-kai's donation and promised that his government would do all it could for the area's recovery.

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