Jaycees Preparing to Ship Relief Aid to Japan

The fruits of local Jaycee members’ efforts to aid the Kobe, Japan, earthquake victims had been accumulating since early last week at an Oxnard car dealership.

And by Saturday, the time came to pack up donated relief supplies culled from across the county. Starting at 10 a.m., about 10 Jaycees and five of their children gathered at Todey Chevrolet-Geo-Hyundai of Oxnard and began preparing the supplies for shipment to Japan this week.

“We’re shooting for Tuesday, but we might hold off until Thursday,” said Walter Morris, 32, district president of the Channel Islands Jaycees. Donations “were a little bit slow at first, but they’ve boomed since Friday,” he said.

Morris, of Camarillo, estimated that between 10 and 15 of the 3-foot-by-4-foot pallets--topped with boxes containing clothes, canned food, dried cereal and medical supplies--would be flown to Japan by the end of this week. He said he also expects a second shipment will be sent.

Jaycees spent the morning packing the supplies, which also included donations that ranged from a toy firetruck complete with an action toy figurine to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle backpack. There were even neatly pressed cloth dinner napkins and a bottle of soy sauce.

Another six Jaycees, in teams of two, had fanned out across the county to collect supplies that were dropped off at various Boys & Girls clubs.

“I love it,” said Morris of coordinating the relief partnership. “One of the warmest things is being able to help others.”

He added that their efforts enabled them to repay the Kobe Jaycees, who gave $1,200 to the state Jaycees after the Northridge earthquake. “We’re just giving back to them what they gave to us.”

Other Jaycees agreed. “I feel good doing this,” said David Thompson, 27, of Oxnard. “When I was growing up, I never thought I’d be doing something like this on a Saturday morning.”