Help Harumatsuri Teachers give Obento to students

Hi. I am Yukiko and Emi, from the North East Council of Teachers of Japanese (NECTJ) and a teacher at a public school in NYC. We are writing today on behalf of NECTJ Harumatsuri (Spring Festival) Committee to try to raise funds so that students of all economic backgrounds can experience Japanese culture in New York through the Harumatsuri Festival. We will collect fees from students as participation fee, as much as we can, so if you can donate 5-10 dollars, we probably can purchase one boxed lunch for a student. Please read further for the details.

Harumatsuri, or the Spring Festival, is an event where many Japanese learners in the tri-state gather to enjoy Japanese cultural contests and activities. Since 1994, we have been holding Harumatsuri yearly, and this year it will be the 29th Harumatsuri. There will be more than 300 students and 100 volunteers from about 15 schools in the NY area participating in this event at UNIS, or United Nations International School.

Harumatsuri is planned and carried out by school teachers and community volunteers. We depend on donations and some participation fees collected from students. We used to collect 10 dollars from students years ago, but due to recent inflation, we had to raise the fee to 13 dollars last year. Within the 13 dollars, Harumatsuri event fee was 5.75 dollars. The lunch fee was only 7.25 dollars. It is not possible to find Japanese lunches for 400+ people within this budget with the elevated costs due to inflation this year.

Our estimation is that for the this Harumatsuri, the lunch fee itself will exceed $10, and it looks impossible for us to provide a Japanese lunch this year. We want our students to have a chance to experience and enjoy Japanese food! In some districts, especially in city schools, students live below the poverty line, and paying 13 dollars for a field trip is a difficult task for them. Some of these students may not be able to join this event if the cost becomes high. Some of these students have never tried any kind of authentic Japanese food. One of my students asked me this fall, “What does Tofu taste like?” “Can we eat Obento at Harumatsuri?” They see the food on Anime, but have never tried it. Therefore, Harumatsuri teachers do not want to give up the idea of providing all students with Japanese lunches at this Harumatsuri 2024 in April.

We have asked some organizations for food donations such as onigiri or bento donations, or big group discounts so that we can afford it. However, no one can donate food for this many students. This is why we need your support today! As I stated in the beginning, your 5 dollars donation will be able to buy a boxed lunch for a student. Please help us!!