Employees united. The inside story of the "Don't erase people with disabilities" project [Unique Communication #3]
Thank you for using HERALBONY. This is Marie, a staff member.
In response to the Noto Peninsula earthquake, HERALBONY is carrying out an activity called "#Don'tErasePeopleWithDisabilities." We have received many shares and comments of support on social media, and we are deeply touched by everyone's warm feelings.
We also received a lot of support from many people regarding our "Sales Proceeds Donation" initiative, which began on January 5th. Once again, we realized that it is thanks to your daily support that we are able to devote ourselves to these activities. We would like to express our sincere gratitude.
How did the "#Don'tEraseDisabilities" movement begin?
Let me tell you a little bit about why we decided to do this.
During the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Takaya Matsuda, representative of Heralbony, heard a story from his mother, who lives in his hometown of Iwate Prefecture, about how many people with disabilities had been forced to leave evacuation centers and were forced to return to their half-destroyed homes or live in their cars as refugees.
On January 1, the day the earthquake occurred, Takaya, unable to sit still, held an emergency meeting with his twin brother, Fumito. Then, at 2 a.m. on the day of the earthquake, Takaya made the following announcement on the Slack channel for all members:
"What can we essentially do? How can we contribute to welfare for people with disabilities? I'm sure there are things that can be done and that are required. I'd like you to think about it with me."
When we made the call, volunteers from within the company, just like Takaya and Fumitou, who couldn't sit still despite it being the beginning of the year, came together from across departments and started the activity anew.
The first thing we did was to share the problems that people with disabilities encounter during disasters and the necessary information through a special website and social media, and to disseminate it widely to society. Through this, we decided to achieve the following two goals.
① To help the general public understand the situation faced by people with disabilities and to provide them with appropriate support.
② Create an environment where people with disabilities are not overlooked and can receive support during disasters through reliable information and practical action.
▼ Click here for the "#Don'tErasePeopleWithDisabilities" special website
Additionally, on January 5th, the company began donating a portion of its product sales to support and support the recovery efforts following the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
▼Sales donations・Details here
As a token of our appreciation, we will be giving out original postcards to everyone.
"I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who helped with the donation efforts."
After hearing such a request from within the company, we unanimously decided to create and distribute "original art postcards."
While discussing what kind of art would please people, one of our employees suggested that the works of the Wajima siblings from Ishikawa Prefecture be good. The innocent, straightforward, and imaginative brother and sister create bright works that fill you with energy just by looking at them.
We contacted the Wajima family, who we had already confirmed were safe, and they kindly agreed to our use of the art, saying, "Please use it for this activity."
After much discussion, out of all the attractive candidates, the winner was chosen: "Sow the Seeds for the Future," which depicts a diverse range of humans and animals coexisting vibrantly.
By the way, Kanta, who is a big brother who loves his sister, always includes his sister Kaede in his drawings. If you look at the top left corner of this piece, you will see Kaede looking like she is having fun!
Even more surprising is that when Kanta draws people, he creates original character settings for all the characters... We recommend taking your time to look at the art while imagining what kind of characters each one is.
A postcard featuring this artwork will be given as a gift to everyone who purchases a product eligible for donation. Customers who purchase from the online store will have the postcard enclosed with the product. In addition, customers who purchase at the Roppongi pop-up or Kawatoku store (Morioka, Iwate) will receive the postcard directly.
For those of you who have already purchased a donation item (※), we will send you a postcard separately. Please wait for a while until it arrives.
*Only available to those who have registered their address on the online store.
It is our sincere hope that through this activity, we can create an environment where people with disabilities in the disaster-stricken areas can feel a little more at ease, and that societal awareness will change, even if only just a little.
We want to continue our activities to ensure that people with disabilities are not treated as if they "don't exist."
We also pray for the speedy recovery of the affected areas.
Introducing the siblings Kanta and Kaede Wajima
Kanta Wajima
Born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. At the age of two, he became interested in animals and began drawing. As he grew older, he liked to draw collections of things that interested him at the time, such as rakugo, toys, anime, Minna no Uta, trivia, etc. In addition to himself and his sister, the characters that appear in his drawings often include original characters. His dream for the future is to create an animation using his own drawings and characters. He works hard on his creative activities every day, thinking about the casting and script for the animation.
Wajima Kaede
Born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. She loves stories with wizards and heroes and heroines, and from the age of five she has been creating characters and items from stories using origami. She dreams of becoming a film director in the future, and creates many original picture book illustrations and novels with unwavering lines. She is the very picture of a carefree girl.
In the episode of "Listening Museum" featuring the Wajima siblings, you can hear their creative conversation and learn about their heartwarming relationship.
