Japanese Shipping Company Announces Over 100,000 Picture Books Delivered for Charity

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) announced on February 9, 2010, that the number of educational picture books it has shipped to Asia since 2004 under a charitable program called the "Campaign to Deliver Picture Books" is now over 100,000 copies.

The NYK Line provides free transport to assist with the campaign, which is organized by the Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA), a non-governmental organization that lends comfort and support to children through educational and cultural activities. SVA's campaign is a volunteer-driven activity to deliver Japanese picture books to children in Asian countries, which come with stickers with translations printed in local languages.

The books are conveyed by NYK container vessels for distribution to children in Cambodia, Laos, as well as Myanmar (Burma) refugee camps in Thailand. They are also used in schools and libraries for children's literacy and enrichment programs.

The NYK group has supported the campaign since fiscal 2004, and ships the books free of charge as one of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The total number of books transported recently reached 106,152 copies, including the 21,563 copies shipped in early February 2010.

In addition to this assistance with transport, the company runs a workshop (since fiscal 2004) where volunteers from among its employees put the stickers in the picture books, which are meant to provide comfort to children who have suffered from anxiety caused by poverty and civil wars. NYK says it plans to continue working together with SVA on the campaign into the future.

NYK Group's Transport Assistance in"Campaign to Deliver Picture Books"Surpasses 100,000 Books
http://www.nyk.com/english/release/788/
NE_100212.html
Shanti Volunteer Association(SVA)
http://sva.or.jp/global/

Posted: 2010/05/12 06:00:15 AM

TAG NGO/Citizen , Other , Transportation