Mayor Proposes Fund to Help Japanese Sister City

Countless Gilroy residents have asked how they can help their Japanese sister city, Takko-Machi, after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake shook the country earlier this month. For many, donating to the Red Cross has been the answer.

On Monday, the Gilroy City Council might give them another option.

The creation of a new trust fund for Takko-Machi, proposed by Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro, will go before the City Council for a vote during their meeting on Monday.

Money in the fund would go directly to the mountainous Japanese city, helping to bolster Takko-Machi's efforts to help their hard-hit coastal neighbors like Hachinohe, Pinheiro said.

Many Takko-Machi residents have contributed supplies to help their neighbors, and a group of volunteers are planning to lend their hands to the recovery effort this weekend said Jessica Brewka, the city’s coordinator for international relations.

Takko-Machi was nearly 200 miles from the epicenter of the massive earthquake, avoiding major injury and only experiencing a small landslide. Supplies have been rationed in the rural city, however, while authorities work to restore roads and train service, Brewka said.

Gilroy has participated in an active exchange program with Takko-Machi since 1988, with more than 1,000 people visiting from the “Garlic Capital of Japan” over the past 20 years, said Hugh Smith, president of the Takko Garlic International Friendship Organization in Gilroy.