A man claiming to represent the ‘Charity of Saving Rai,’ a community effort to collect money for a life saving heart transplant for 12-year-old Rai Matsushima from Chatan, tried to make off with a charity donation box in a restaurant in Urasoe on Oct. 7.

According to a spokesman for the Charity of Saving Rai, all the staff of the charity have a photo ID. He advises that if anybody who does not have an ID comes by, “Please call the Charity Office and make sure the person is certified.” In this case the man just left the restaurant when a manager said that he would make sure and call the Charity Office.

The Charity of Saving Rai has placed cardboard boxes in various shops and restaurants for people to donate cash.  Miyuki Toyama, a representative of the charity, says, “We are asking people to use boxes provided by us in order to prevent crimes like this. We also ask the public to let us know if someone sees an unusual box that does not have our stamp on it.”  `The official boxes are 15 by 17 centimeters in size, and 10 cm deep, and made of cardboard. These boxes should have the stamp of the Charity on them. For information call Charity of Saving Rai at 098-989-7798.

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