Habitat Japan’s youth program boasts a network of 42 university campus chapters nationwide. On Saturday, May 18th, leaders of campus chapters throughout Eastern Japan hosted a large-scale community cleanup to welcome new Habitat campus chapter members who joined at the beginning of the Japanese school year. Over 150 student volunteers formed 16 groups and split up to clean the streets of Shibuya and Harajuku of litter.
To cross university boundaries and break the ice between new chapter members from around the country, groups were tasked with objectives like collecting the most trash, walking the furthest, and filling out a bingo card by finding specific types of litter. Over 4 hours of connections and volunteering, students filled over 30 trash bags to the brim. One participant commented, “Collecting this much together with my group gives me a huge sense of accomplishment.”
Taniwaki-san, the third-year who organized the event told us “since a lot more people joined than we expected, I was worried whether or not we’d be able to plan an event they’d all enjoy. But today I heard a lot of good feedback, and I think most people were glad to have participated. It was fulfilling for me because I feel like we were able to make a contribution to the community by helping keep it clean.”
With the help of our campus chapters and their proactive planning and volunteering, Habitat Japan is grateful to be able to expand the reach of our impact and will continue working hard to support our youth members. To help support the Habitat Japan youth program, please donate below.