Thank you

I'm not Japanese, but as a current resident of Japan, I've got to say that I am so grateful and feel totally humbled by the tremendous support coming in for the Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake relief efforts.

Here's just a small taste of what some friends and colleagues are doing:

Origami Ornaments for Japan:

A friend of mine in Toronto is making origami ornaments for a minimum donation of $10. She has currently raised nearly $400 in pledges for the Red Cross, and will continue to accept pledges until March 31st. (All this with a 7-month old baby at home!)

Man Up for Japan:

National AJET (the Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching) set up this Facebook event page to encourage JETs (and anyone else interested) to donate 10,000yen (one "man" in Japanese) to the relief efforts on Friday, March 18th--the first payday for JETs following the earthquake. There are nearly 5000 "attendees" and more are still joining. 

Japan Benefit Party:

Live Bands, DJ, Silent Auctions 1 Apr 8pm - 2 Apr 2am @ Hard Rock Cafe, Toronto - Hosted by JETAA Toronto (the JET Alumni Association of Toronto) Proceeds to go to the Red Cross.

Love on Japan:

A friend of a friend is donating 100% of total sales from her baking business, Cakelette from now throughout April to the OMF Sendai Earthquake Relief Fund.

At a time when a lot of the news is bad (such as the news of the death of a Miyagi JET participant), it's especially encouraging to know that so many people from all over the world are thinking about and doing things for Japan.