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Help for Japan

I lived in Japan for about 17 years and it’s one of the most beautiful & safest (violent crime is almost unheard of) countries on the planet. The people there are very friendly and giving to others. It’s the most harmonious society I’ve ever seen in all my years of travelling all over the place.

In fact, most of the world is now connected to Japan someway or another either by the vehicle you drive, the computers you use or the tvs, cameras and audio devices you use. Japan has helped to make the world a better place to live in over the past 50 years. Now it’s our turn to help them.

Right now my wife who is visiting friends, our oldest son and mother-in-law are over there dealing with the devastation that has been rocking the country the past few days.

While they are currently safe, they are nervous wrecks with the over 200 and counting aftershocks that have hit them. I’m in the U.S. right now taking care of our two younger sons and running our business but am doing what I can to help them out from afar.

It’s very sad considering the massive loss of life and hardships the people are going through right now over there. It’s a wake up call to remember just how fragile our lives are on Earth, we could be happily going about our business one minute and gone the next if you think about it so make sure you are living your life to the fullest you can.

We have hundreds of friends and acquaintances over there and are sending our thoughts & prayers right now. We’ve also made donations and if you’d like to do the same to help the good people of Japan out here is a list of reputable charities that are helping them right now.

Gobal Giving

Red Cross

Doctors without Borders

Save the Children

Salvation Army

I hope you can help them out and if you know of more good places to donate please list them under comments, thanks

Warm Regards

Jeremy Gislason

PS Feel free to share this blog post to spread the word

UDPATE from Global Giving March 18th: This is from an email I got from Global Giving: How Donations Are Being Used to Help Japan

All of us at GlobalGiving have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of generosity that has come from people all over the world in support of those impacted by the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Over 20,000 of you have donated time, energy, money, and ideas to help those affected by the disaster.

Today, just one week after the earthquake hit, we are disbursing $725,000 from GlobalGiving’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund to six organizations already in Japan working on relief and long-term recovery efforts. You can see the exact allocation of these funds below.

We wanted to share with you more information about the organizations receiving these first funds and the valuable work that each is carrying out with the help of your donation.

Japan Platform – Japan Platform is an emergency humanitarian aid organization working with Japanese NGOs, the Japanese business community, and the Japanese government. Funds provided by GlobalGiving will be used to provide disaster coordination and financial support to the 18 Japan Platform partner NGOs that are responding to the emergency by providing short-term food aid, medical assistance, and tents, while planning a long-term response.

Peace Winds – Peace Winds is a Japanese organization that has focused on emergency humanitarian relief for the past 15 years. GlobalGiving funds will help Peace Winds distribute emergency disaster relief supplies – including food, cooking supplies, and blankets – to people at shelters in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture and to provide free satellite telephone services and mobile phone charging so that survivors can ensure family members of their safety and to check on family members in other affected areas.

Save the Children – Children are always among the most vulnerable during emergencies. Save the Children is working with children and caregivers to provide psycho-social support and materials and to establish Child-Friendly Spaces in affected communities in Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwata, and Ibaraki Prefectures.

Architecture for HumanityInternational Medical Corps – Architecture for Humanity and its teams of professionals in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto are partnering with other organizations to mobilize around the long-term reconstruction effort. GlobalGiving funds will support communities and design professionals in the safe and sustainable rebuilding of community structures, health clinics, schools, hospitals and civic structures.

- International Medical Corps has an emergency response team of doctors on the ground in Sendai, and is coordinating with local officials to fill critical gaps in the response efforts. These funds will help the group focus on reaching isolated coastal communities that were devastated by the tsunami and have yet to receive aid.

Lifeline Energy – Lifeline Energy is working with local partners to distribute wind-up and solar radios and specialized programming to non-Japanese speaking survivors, who are lacking access to critical information following the disaster. These radios are also equipped with flashlights and cell phone chargers and are designed for especially complex emergency situations.

GlobalGiving is committed to keeping you informed about the impact your donation is having on the ground. In the coming days, weeks, and months, you’ll continue to receive updates about how these funds are being used and stories about the people whose lives you have helped change for the better. For additional insights into how GlobalGiving is handling donors’ funds, read our Chief Program Officer’s recent blog post.

Together, you are making a difference in the lives of so many in Japan. 

Thank you,
Britt Lake and the GlobalGiving Team

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 at 11:39 am and is filed under Charity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.