Send Christmas to the kids of Operation Airlift Japan

It has been two years and eight months since a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami hit Japan, which means over two years since The Ron and Don Show launched Operation Airlift Japan. In March of 2011, we got a call from a military wife named Gemini Sanford, a former Everett resident who is stationed in Misawa Japan, who told us the orphanage they support was desperate of supplies.

Read Rachel’s original story here

We put the call out for donations and the Ron and Don Nation delivered. We collected over 40 tons of toys, food, clothing, blankets and supplies for the Bikou-En Orphanage, and several months later, Ron and Rachel went to Japan to meet the kids.

Read Rachel’s update

Almost three years later, the American families stationed at the Misawa Naval Air Base still help the kids at Bikou-En, and they could use your help ensuring each boy and girl receives a Christmas present this year.

Related: Rachel revisits the kids of Operation Airlift Japan

We have a list of 76 boys and girls, ages 2 through 18, who have sent a ‘wish list’ of two presents they would love to open on Christmas day. Some examples: Miki Ogura is nine-years-old. She asked for an iron-on hot bead set and a CD player; Two-year-old Satsuki Minagawa is hoping for a stuffed dog and a costume dress; Yamato Kouda is 12. He requested sunglasses and a basketball wristband; Daiki Komata is a 16-year-old boy who would like UnderArmor and a CD player.

If you would like to buy a present for one of the 76 Orphans at Bikou-En, you can follow these steps:

1. E-mail us at ronanddon@bonneville.com saying how many children you want to purchase gifts for. Please include your name and phone number, and if you want, a short note about why you are helping out.

2. Rachel Belle will assign you a Bikou-En kid and give you their name, age, and two options for presents they asked for this year.

3. Go out and buy a present! Send the *new* wrapped gifts (with a tag including the child’s name) to C/O Gemini Sanford PSC 76 box 2575 APO AP 96319

4. OPTIONAL: E-mail us a photo of yourself sending the gift. We will trade photos with the orphanage when the kids are ready to unwrap their presents.

***NOTE: If you do not want to purchase a present for the child Rachel assigns to you, let us know and we will keep looking for a match for that child. Please try to honor one of the requests and do not go ‘off script’ with a substitute gift.

Thank you once again for getting involved to help us show the children of Bikou-En that they are not forgotten by their friends in America!