A Japanese nonprofit organization is using its design and Internet savvy to help raise funds for a ranch that is defying government instructions and raising cattle in a contaminated area near the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
A Japanese nonprofit organization is using its design and Internet savvy to help raise funds for a ranch that is defying government instructions and raising cattle in a contaminated area near the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Based in Sendai, the nonprofit Gift Hope picks one organization a month to help. The T-shirts it sells online during that time are designed by professionals as well as amateurs. Aside from getting funds, target organizations benefit through Internet exposure and name recognition.
The May campaign is for Kibo no Bokujo Fukushima (Ranch of Hope Fukushima), which is located in the town of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture. The ranch is in an area that was declared a no-entry zone after the March 2011 disaster. The central government also implemented a policy ordering the destruction of all cattle raised in the zone.
However, the ranch has refused to heed the order and continues to raise livestock so it can one day aid research into the effects of radiation exposure.
Gift Hope received around 150 designs for T-shirts over the Internet, 51 of which were selected for the charity sale. For each T-shirt sold, 30 percent of the proceeds goes to the ranch. The designer gets 10 percent.
The funds raised will help pay for the transportation costs of the feed needed to maintain the approximate 360 cattle on the ranch.
Osamu Fukushima, a graphic designer who heads Gift Hope's Tokyo office, said: "Wearing a designer T-shirt can serve as catalyst for talking about the organization being supported as friends may ask, 'What does that T-shirt represent?' In that sense, the T-shirt becomes a form of media."
Gift Hope kicked off its charity program this year as a way to use design to contribute to society. So far, it has supported one organization that provides support to disaster-stricken areas as well as one involved in landmine clearing.
About 200 designers have submitted entries so far. The T-shirts sell for 2,800 yen ($27.50), excluding tax and shipping costs. Gift Hope is taking orders for Kibo no Bokujo Fukushima until May 31 through its website at <