LET'S PUT AN END TO WASTE! FOOD SUPPLIES THAT OTHERS CAN PUT TO GOOD USE
Donation of emergency food supplies
[Japan] Mazda Motor Corporation
Donating alpha rice to NPOs
Mazda donated emergency food supplies that were due to be replaced by the company but were still well within their use-by date to local social welfare councils, incorporated NPOs, and school groups in areas in the vicinity of its offices.
Believing that Mazda's emergency food supplies could be useful to society and also taking into consideration the growing awareness of disaster readiness of people in the community, Mazda staff managing the company stockpiles donated the food with the aim of reducing food loss and assisting persons in need during difficult COVID conditions.
In December 2021 and January 2022, Tokyo Head Office donated about 1,400 single-serve pouches of alpha rice to an organization established to care for children in the local community. It was among the registered organizations on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' website expressing its wishes to receive food donations under the ministry's program to prevent food loss. We received positive comments from the recipient organization such as, "We intend to use the rice mainly for single-parent families and in the children's cafeteria."
At the Hiroshima Head Office, as we considered possible recipients, we learned that a local university was planning to provide life support packs including food ingredients to students in boarding houses, who were reluctant to return to their homes due to the spread of infection, so we donated the food supplies to the university in need. One recipient commented, "It was very helpful because income from my part-time work decreased." Other recipients made comments such as, "It's been a long time since I had sweets. I felt psychologically uplifted," "It was my first time to spend the New Year's holidays alone," and "I have been refraining from going out and felt more stressed than I expected, so I feel grateful for the support of many people, which has encouraged me to study even harder." In addition, we donated about 60,000 serves of alpha rice and bread and 12,000 packets of biscuits in total, which were also used by local social welfare councils and incorporated NPOs.
In addition, the Hofu Plant donated about 14,600 serves of alpha rice and bread, and 3,120 packets of biscuits via the board of education for use at disaster prevention drills for students in nearby elementary and junior high schools and for use at a local food bank.
By the numbers
Duration of program: 1 year