Midori-machi Park Opening On Last Day Of Project Tohoku

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

After serving the tsunami-affected communities along Japan’s northeast coast for seven months, Saturday, November 13, 2011 marked the final day of Project Tohoku, and what better way to salute the closing of a project, than with the opening ceremony of the newly rehabilitated Midori-machi Park.

After a generous donation from Ryan Goldstein of Quinn Emanuel & Associates, and four months of work, volunteers put the finishing touches on this community park just in time for the unveiling. The new space looked immaculate on this crisp, and thankfully sunny, autumn morning.

A child already enjoying the new swings

Volunteers, friends, beneficiaries, residents of the Midori-machi neighborhood, and 40 children from a nearby orphanage were part of the 200 strong crowd gathered to celebrate this monumental event.

The ceremony kicked off with speeches, including one from Ofunato’s Mayor, Toda Kimiaki. Following the ribbon cutting, Midori-machi Park was officially opened! Then, the fun began. The adults got their hands dirty planting colorful flowers in the new gardens and the children were at liberty to explore their new park and do what they do best, play.

Mayor Toda Kimiaki and a tsunami survivor plant the first flowers in the memorial garden

Volunteers and local children pull for their lives in a tug-of-war competition

Ceremony attendees gather for a group photo

The ceremony was followed by a festive BBQ! Volunteers and community members got together for the last time to recount favorite stories from the past seven months and share tearful, heartfelt goodbyes.

Thank you to each and every one of the 1,129 volunteers that joined us in the recovery efforts, and thank you to the kind people of Tohoku for making this a truly unique and memorable All Hands project.

Bubbly Bubbles

Park reopening has positive effects!

Happiness could not be contained when the park’s finally reopened