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Kodomo Gochimeshi", a platform to solve the problems of the rapidly increasing number of "children's cafeterias" across Japan, launches a crowdfunding campaign to support children's cafeterias in town.

~The project will start at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, January 26, 2024 on "CAMPFIRE for Social Good".

- The following is content from the press release -

Kids Future Passport, a non-profit organization that operates "Kodomo Gochimeshi" (Children's Cafeteria), aims to help solve the problem of "children's cafeterias," which are rapidly increasing across Japan in order to solve child poverty. The purpose of this project is to support the holding of "children's cafeteria events" that combine the cost of children's meals with hands-on learning. Funds will be used to pay for the children's meals and to hold the events.

Crowdfunding page: https://camp-fire.jp/projects/732677/preview?token=1eqs73lv&utm_campaign=cp_po_share_c_msg_mypage_projects_show 
(This URL can be supported after the project start time.)

It is said that one in seven children (under 17 years old) in Japan currently live in "relative poverty," which means that they are unable to eat enough food and their mental health and wellbeing are at risk.

Among them, the relative poverty rate for single-parent households is extremely high at 48.11 TP6T, and there is also the problem of orphaned children. For this reason, "children's cafeterias" are rapidly increasing throughout Japan so that children can eat meals and not alone, but with someone else.

Although "children's cafeterias" have been set up to provide support for children, many restaurants face operational challenges. In particular, the main problems faced by these cafeterias are as follows

1. Securing Funds

The cost of providing free meals to the children is borne by the restaurants that operate them, making it difficult to secure ongoing funding.

2. Insufficient manpower

The reliance on volunteers makes it difficult to secure stable manpower.

3. Difficulty in holding regular meetings

Children's cafeterias are generally held once a month or once a week rather than every day, making it difficult to provide stable support for children.

To address these challenges and provide children with a continuous and consistent supply of delicious meals and meaningful experiences, KFP Project to support the cost of food for children to eat at restaurants and to participate in hands-on events launched.

Through this crowdfunding campaign, we aim to deliver 6,000 meals to children. Next, we aim to provide 20,000 meals, and in the future, 40,000 meals and events to provide hands-on programs for children.

Crowdfunding Overview

Target Amount

  • 1st Goal: 3 million yen (6,000 meals served*)
  • 2nd Goal: 8-10 million yen (10 million yen would provide 20,000 meals)
  • 3rd Goal: Over 20 million yen (4,000 meals provided*)

    500 yen equivalent for one meal

how funds are used

  • Meal support for children 6000~40,000 meals planned *Varies depending on the amount of donation
    Basically, the funds will be used to support meals for children.
  • Event organization expenses: Approx. 500,000 yen *Variable depending on the amount of donation
  • Mystery solving walks for elementary school students for parents and children [Al Quest], etc.
  • Funds to organize the event described in the return

What is Kodomo Diner's DX "Kodomo Gochimeshi"?

  1. KFP will collect donations from supporting companies, local governments (subsidies and hometown tax payments), and individuals to form a fund. This Kurafan will be a solicitation for this support fund.
  2. Registration of children (registration of membership from parent's smartphone, or even in person with parental approval)
  3. Present your meal ticket at a registered restaurant in the neighborhood. Restaurants registered to provide meals at no charge will receive zero commission. Restaurants that are interested in operating a children's cafeteria but have concerns about funding and operation can easily participate.
  4. The food and beverage proceeds will be transferred from the fund to the restaurant.
  5. Supporting companies and donors will receive thank you messages from children and families, as well as activity reports.

Children's Gochimeshi features and "Sanpo-yoshi

Children's Gochimeshi features and "Sanpo-yoshi

Happy" for children and families 

  • Meals are served and eaten when you want to go (on the restaurant's business days).
  • All you have to do is show your cell phone to the clerk, so even those who are not so easily seen, such as "I go to the children's cafeteria," can use the service without worrying about being seen.
  • The peace of mind of eating at an approved restaurant from a sanitary standpoint.

Happy" at the store

  • Solving the problem of wanting to operate a children's cafeteria, but worried about funding and management...
  • Can provide meals for children with the restaurant's current menu.
  • Zero fees for installation and operation
  • Total new customers and sales.

Happy" of the supporters

  • Visualization of donations. (NPO's operating and activity costs of 10% are very inexpensive, which is an advantage of DX. (10% is a very inexpensive NPO operation and activity fee, which is an advantage of DX).
  • The logo of the supporting/sponsoring company will be displayed when the user eats the meal. This allows companies to support and budget for advertising as CSR and branding as well
  • Support not only the children, but also the local food and beverage culture (support can be limited to a specific region).

Amount of Support and Returns

For this project, we have set up a donation-only support plan and a plan with a return gift.

Supporting Plan: Donations of 2,000 yen to 1,000,000 yen only

Donation Only Support Plan

Support: 30,000 yen to 200,000 yen returnable plan

Plan with return gift

Support: 100,000 - 200,000 yen plan with ambassador events

Plan with return gift

Representative Director Ryosuke Imai Message

Representative Director Ryosuke Imai

I have been working as a musician for more than 20 years, and during the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, I strongly felt the powerlessness of entertainment and music in times of emergency. I paid particular attention to food, which is the food, clothing, and shelter that is needed in times of emergency. I realized that there are many social problems that can be solved with food, and I aim to create a system that creates "new values" that are friendly to people and communities.

It is also a very easy platform for local restaurants and children to participate in this activity, as it is an activity that contributes to sales without a commission, making it very easy for both the restaurants and the children to participate.

Kodomo Gochimeshi" is a system that embodies the idea of "creating a future in which children can at least eat a full meal! This is a system to realize such a wish.

The system is based on "Gochimeshi" (a system that allows users to electronically gift meals from restaurants to friends and acquaintances), which Gigi began developing in 2018, so development costs have been kept to a minimum. The main purpose of this project is to pay for the children's meals, and we are also asking for your help in organizing events and activities to raise awareness of this project.

In other words, it will be a crafun that will lead to the continued support of more children.

The government's support for children's cafeterias is not reaching the children, the people who run children's cafeterias across the country are struggling, and people are worried about their own children and society......etc. I am sure that everyone of you (and I am sure the same for me) have felt some kind of "tug" in your hearts as you go through your lives, We would very much appreciate your cooperation!

We would also like to spread the word about our activities, so please help us spread the word to those who have supported our funding and are interested in our activities. Of course, we would like to hear from volunteers who are interested in helping us! We are always looking for volunteers who would like to help us!

About Kids Future Passport, a non-profit organization

  • A non-profit organization established to provide support for children. It operates "Kodomo Gochimeshi" with the aim of creating a sustainable system to ensure the healthy growth of all children. The program is funded by donations and support from corporations and individuals, and provides meals at registered restaurants in the community. Kodomo Gochimeshi" uses the GOCHI platform owned by Gigi Corporation.
  • Home Page: https://kids-future-passport.org/

Gigi Corporation

A food tech company founded by Ryosuke Imai, a composer and music producer, in 2018. With the vision of "Your Happiness is My Happiness.", the company launched "Gochimeshi", a digital gift service to send meal coupons for restaurant menus, in 2019, and "Sakimeshi", a service to send support to restaurants by paying in advance for Corona disasters, in 2020. In 2020, we will release "Saki-meshi," a service that allows users to send their support to restaurants by paying in advance for Corona's misfortunes. In 2021, the company will launch "Bizmeshi," a new employee benefit service that turns local restaurants into company cafeterias, and in 2023, "Kodomo Gochimeshi," a service that turns restaurants into children's cafeterias. The electronic ticket platform "GOCHI Platform," the backbone of these services, features a new business model that does not charge registration and settlement fees from restaurants, and has been used more than 2.2 million times in total.

Home Page: https://www.gigi.tokyo/