ZAMA CITY, Japan – U.S. Army community volunteers helped plant the seeds — literally — for a strong partnership with their neighboring Zama City during an Oct. 8 event near the Sagami River here.
Twelve volunteers from Camp Zama, Japan, including Soldiers, family members, Department of the Army civilians and Zama Middle High School students, joined the Yotsuya Sunflower Association to sow canola seeds in the fields where the sunflowers will be planted next year for Zama City’s annual sunflower festival held in late summer.
The rotational canola crops help prep the fields for the sunflowers and will bloom next spring in conjunction with the cherry blossoms, making for a colorful spring.
Hikaru Hasegawa, president of the Yotsuya Sunflower Association, thanked the volunteers for spending part of their own holiday weekend sowing the canola.
Hasegawa said he was very happy to work with the military community volunteers for the first time, and he thanked them for their assistance. He also hopes their relationship will continue.
“I hope that volunteer participants will bring their families to see the flowers when they bloom,” he said.
U.S. Army Medical Activity – Japan member Staff Sgt. Andrez Romero said his goal with volunteering was simple — to help the community.
“[Volunteering] helps us have better partnerships with our host-nation allies and makes us have a better understanding of our immediate impact on Zama and Japan as a whole.”
Four Zama Middle High School students, members of the school’s National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society, were also part of the volunteer effort.
High school senior Tristan Cha said he liked working with the organization.
“I really enjoyed it,” Cha said. “It’s definitely a very different experience.”
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