William here. I made an interesting discovery today. Last night, chatting with Rene, I learned that someone had made off with a case of energy drinks he had sitting on his futon while he was away, so I contacted the company (Itami Pharmaceuticals 伊丹製薬) and received this morning a very polite response: That while they normally contribute monetarily, not in kind, they would be happy to make an exception in this case. So now a crate of energy drinks is on its way to Minamiaso.
“Wow, this is easy!” I naively thought, and after gathering a list of most-wanted items from Rene and his buddies (mostly hygiene-related, particularly foot- and hand-care medicine and socks and underwear, plus instant coffee and miso), I contacted some major Kyushu chains, figuring they’d be happy to contribute in kind.
Nope.
Cosmos - nope. Hirose - nope. Daiki - pending.
The former two both indicated a willingness to deliver needed items to the zone if they were paid for. The lesson here, I think, is that monetary aid should be targeted at the local level so that it can be used for specific needs and avoid bureaucracy.
Rene said that he is investigating setting up a fund at the Minamiaso City Hall. I hope that this will be realized soon and that we will be able to attract donors towards this more specific, urgently-needed, shovel-ready cause.