Ofunato , Japan ( CNN ) -- More than a month after the devastating tsunami and earthquake that flattened seaside communities across northern Japan , many aid groups are wrapping up operations . One team of volunteers is just ramping up , however . For those wondering what they can still do to help , the U.S.-based charity All Hands has an answer : Buy a plane ticket , and come ready to get to work . `` What we do is come in after natural disasters all around the world and help people by bringing in volunteers in the recovery process , '' said Marc Young , the charity 's operational director in Ofunato , a small port city on Japan 's northeastern coast . Ofunato was swamped in the tsunami that left nearly 500 dead and missing . The survivors are now faced with a mountain of debris to clear and a need to find new homes for more than 6,500 people . By Monday , the U.S.-based secular nonprofit had 23 volunteers from the United States , Canada , Britain and Australia working alongside Japanese from across the country . They were cleaning out houses and businesses and helping people salvage any personal goods and gear they could . Chris Turner , a staff project coordinator for All Hands , just arrived from working in Leogane , Haiti . Unlike Haiti , the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere , Japan is the world 's third-largest economy and its government is functioning . Help is still needed , however . `` Some people , what they most like to donate is their hard work , '' says Turner , a Canadian . `` We kind of give people that opportunity . '' The group is staying at a nearby house donated by a local resident and are getting a campground up and running to service the expected 100 volunteers who are streaming in every day . All Hands also is setting up a `` smart distribution '' warehouse to better allocate donated goods to the people who need them . In the immediate aftermath of the quake , truckloads of donated food , clothes and household goods were sent in . Now there are huge pallets of toilet paper , plates and other scattered goods from people who were well-meaning , but unclear on what was needed . `` We think that there is enough shampoo and detergent here for every person in every shelter to use a bottle a day for a year , '' Young said . There are few baths or working washing machines in the area , and what people really need is fresh food , he said . Most people have temporary shelter , and All Hands is forming a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to build 50 new homes . The group also is working with local leaders to team volunteers with Japanese carpenters to pull out waterlogged floors and walls from homes that are otherwise structurally sound . `` It 's rewarding to get all the debris out of the homes , '' Young said . `` But it 's especially exciting to take the next step and get people back in to their own homes . '' The group members are from all over the world , but All Hands says they had to pick the first volunteers from among thousands of offers based on skills they could contribute . Amya Miller , a volunteer from Boston , was born and raised in Japan , and now works as an interpreter . Miller said she her family and business on hold for two months to come and help in Japan and called in every favor she was ever owed to raise money . `` You ca n't forget about these people , '' she said . `` This is a multi-year recovery process . ''
All Hands builds houses and helps families salvage them . More than 100 people need homes in the city of Ofunato . ` ` You ca n't know about these people , '' one man says .