Corporate Volunteer Program

Hands On Tokyo provides meaningful volunteer opportunities to foster volunteerism and develop leaders to serve the needs of our community. With our corporate volunteer program for companies, we want to offer meaningful volunteer opportunities, and to help their employees become more involved in community service.

If you are interested in offering volunteer opportunities to your employees, please feel free to contact Hands On Tokyo office at info@handsontokyo.org.
 

■ Corporate Volunteer Program  2022 

Hands On Tokyo has shifted the focus of its activities to online volunteer activities and events since 2020 in light of the impact of the covid-19 infection. Since 2022, there has been a gradual return of the face-to-face and activities transitioning to the "New Normal," providing programs that better meet the community's needs. With our corporate volunteers' enthusiastic support, we
continued to assist our community partners.

We are pleased to introduce some of the programs that we held in 2022 with our corporate partners, including Bank of America, Barclays, AbbVie GK, SAP Japan Co., Ltd., Alexion Pharma GK, Natixis Japan Securities Co., Ltd., Cartier, Richemont Japan K.K., GLP Japan Inc., and others. 

Corporate volunteers also supported Life Skills programs for children living in children’s homes and for people with disabilities, initiatives for environmental issues, Outsider Art caravans, craft making, blind jogging, cooking classes, English and Japanese language classes, and support for infant homes and children’s homes through donations and volunteer activities. We would like to thank all of the companies that supported us with their donations and volunteer activities. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of the companies that supported us. 

Children's Homes & Child Welfare Facilities

■ STEM Program
Activities were conducted for children to promote interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields. Corporate volunteers taught participatory science experiment classes so the children could learn while having fun. The program included experiments to enjoy color changes, mystery boxes, and learning about medicine in a fun way. The program was designed to spark children's interest in "What is science?".
  

Support for Youth in Need

■ Online Japanese language lessons  
We offer online Japanese language lessons to improve communication for international students in need living in Japan and foreign mothers living in maternal and child living support facilities. Corporate volunteers conduct the lessons, devising them to meet the needs of each individual. In addition to using textbooks, we hold discussions on various topics to improve their understanding of Japanese and conversational skills.
 
  


 

■ Care Package 
Due to the long-term impact caused by COVID-19 infection, young people, including those who have graduated from children's homes and universities, are living in poverty. We are working to deliver care packages with food and daily necessities for such young people. Corporate volunteers sorted and packed food and daily needs to be placed in the care packages wishing students’ spirits and hope.
 

Special Needs

■ Fun with English! 
Special Needs Fun with English! In cooperation with corporate volunteers, we offered online English conversation lessons for people with disabilities (elementary school students to adults). The main aim of this project was to make learning English fun for participants. After an ice-breaker lesson, we played drawing games, sang songs, and talked about seasonal events, favorite foods, and hobbies in English. This activity was an excellent opportunity for the volunteers to learn the fun of intercultural communication and different ways of interacting.

■ Jogging for visually impaired 
Running gives many people a sense of accomplishment, liberation, challenge, and joy. Hands On Tokyo collaborate with the NPO Achilles International Japan in the jogging program. The volunteers assist as guide runners for runners with visual impairments. To ensure that runners can run safely and enjoyably together, they hold a small rope that helps them stay aligned. Sometimes, the volunteers are paired with runners who are very familiar with the running course in Yoyogi Park, and they come across an unsure direction. They will know immediately and tell the volunteers, "The turn is just a little further down, not this one." Whether you are jogging or walking, the participants always have a pleasant conversation in this activity, turning exercise into an enjoyable social occasion.

■ Outsider Art Caravan
Outsider Art / Art Brut (art by people with disabilities) is a relatively new genre of art in Japan. The works of self-taught Japanese artists who have studied art are still not well known. In order to promote awareness of the excellence of outsider art works and to encourage the purchase of such works with due recognition, the "LIVES × ART" activities of the LIVES Project (https://hataraku-taberu-warau.jp/) have been held at the offices of companies. Outsider Art Caravan at corporate offices. A bright, creative workspace filled with outsider art can increase creativity, productivity, and happiness among employees. It can also facilitate communication within the office, with family and friends, and even increase employee engagement. Hosting an Outsider Art Caravan will not only help people learn about the many different forms of expression, but will also help society properly judge the value of outsider art.

During the 2022 activities, many companies not only enjoyed outsider art, but also purchased art after the caravan was over. LIVES x ART will continue to bring pride and benefit to the artists themselves and to welfare facilities. 

Cleaning Activities 

■ Facility Cleaning Activities  
The spread of COVID-19 infection has made daily cleaning burdensome for many facilities. Corporate volunteers assisted with cleaning activities at various facilities to solve this matter. At a facility for sick children and their families, in addition to cleaning the facility, they also helped to prepare meals so that the children and their families could stay in a safe and warm atmosphere. At special-needs schools and children's homes, volunteers cleaned not only the inside of the facilities but also the facility vehicles, entrances, outside stairs, and gardens, organized the playground equipment, put book covers on picture books, and helped create a comfortable environment for the children to be in. At facilities for people with disabilities, the volunteers worked with the facility users, where they were able to clean and interact. Through these activities, the volunteers learned about each facility's background and current situation, allowing them to think about issues in the community. 

Environmental Issues

■ Activities to raise awareness of environmental issues 
In 2022, many new projects were launched in the field of the environment. One of them is an agricultural program at a farm in Katori City, Chiba Prefecture. At the farm, which was reclaimed from abandoned farmland, people with disabilities and children from an orphanage participated in activities as volunteers, along with corporate volunteers, to help harvest the crops. Through this activity, the volunteers also deepened their understanding of the current situation and issues of Japan's farmland system, such as depopulation and abandoned farmland in rural areas. The volunteers came from a wide range of backgrounds, and this activity provided an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of each other's diverse personalities and strengths. For people with disabilities and children from orphanages, who are often on the receiving end of support, the volunteer activities also allowed them to gain new connections with the local community.

In another new project in the environmental field, we cut down trees for forest conservation with the cooperation of the Forest Lifestyle Institute, a non-profit organization. Cutting down trees is necessary to restore Japan's original rich forests, but most importantly, it leads to the preservation of the diverse wildlife that lives in the woods. The day's theme was "Do the right thing, have fun. As the volunteers cut down the trees, the dimly lit forest was transformed into a bright and spacious forest. 
 

 
The most significant number of corporate volunteers contributed to the Arakawa River Cleaning, a collaboration with the Arakawa Clean Aid Forum, conducting 18 cleanups in 2022. The total amount of trash collected was 208 bags (45ℓ) of burnable trash, eight bags (45ℓ) of non-burnable trash, 104 bags (45ℓ) of PET bottles, 86 bags (25ℓ) of bottles, 56 bags (25ℓ) of cans, and 69 pieces of bulky trash. We also held seminars by experts to inform people about the current environmental issues. The participants gained a deeper understanding of how garbage affects our society and daily life and was further motivated to participate in the activity. According to a 2009 report by the Ocean Conservancy, an American environmental NGO, more than 50-80% of marine debris originates in urban areas. Trash discarded in urban areas flows into rivers and eventually out to sea. We must collect urban waste before it spreads into the ocean and becomes microplastic debris.

In addition, Hands On Tokyo also conducts cleanups using a trash pickup and social contribution application, "Pirika," which allows people to enjoy picking up trash while using social networking services. "Pirika" can be used anytime, anywhere in the world. By using the "Pirika" app, users can see how much they have contributed and connect with people worldwide. Activities on this application are becoming increasingly popular, especially among the younger generation, who are more interested in environmental issues.

■ Corporate Programs - Sustainability -