After the devastation wrought on Japan last week with the earthquake and subsequent tsunami I wanted to help. I’ve read several heart breaking stories and watched footage and I can’t even imagine the suffering many Japanese families are experiencing today. I wanted to donate funds to help, so I went with an old favorite standby, the Red Cross. After posting my donation I received an email confirmation that contained information about the efforts taking place to help the survivors as well as this update posted on their website:
American Red Cross Responding to Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami
Saturday, March 12, 2011 — The American Red Cross is offering assistance to the Japanese Red Cross following Friday’s magnitude 8.9 earthquake and resulting tsunami that left towns and villages in Japan devastated.
The earthquake triggered fires and caused severe damage to buildings, leaving five million households without electricity and 1 million without water. Early assessments indicate that more than 2,500 houses have collapsed completely, with 2,500 more damaged.
In addition, as part of preparations for the impact of the tsunami on Hawaii and the West Coast, the American Red Cross provided shelter and comfort to people forced to evacuate from their homes. Red Cross chapters in California, Oregon and Washington opened evacuation centers supporting more than 2,500 people seeking refuge from the tsunami waves. Warehouses and mobile feeding vehicles remain on alert in case they are needed.
Since early Friday morning, we have been in close contact with our colleagues in the Pacific region to offer our support and learn more about the humanitarian needs. The Japanese Red Cross has indicated that it would accept financial support from the American Red Cross for its role providing first aid, emotional support and relief items to those displaced.
On Sunday, the American Red Cross will deploy a disaster management expert from its Washington, DC headquarters to Japan for a week-long mission. She will serve on a seven-person, international team focused on providing high-level support and advice to the Japanese Red Cross, which continues to lead the local earthquake and tsunami response.
To date, the Red Cross has not received any requests for blood from the Japanese Red Cross, the Japanese government or the United States State Department.
In the first 24 hours, the Japanese Red Cross dispatched 62 response teams. These medical relief teams – made up of about 400 doctors, nurses and support staff – are already providing assistance in affected areas through mobile medical clinics, as well as assessing the damage and needs of the communities affected.
More than 300,000 people who were evacuated before the tsunami struck have been housed in temporary centers set up in schools and public buildings where the Red Cross has distributed upwards of 30,000 blankets so far.
The damage caused to the Fukushima nuclear power plant has resulted in serious concerns. The Japanese Red Cross Society remains prepared to support those evacuated from the exclusion zone, and continues to closely monitor the situation.
“The Japanese Red Cross has diligently trained over the past decade, and are able to put their training into practice by assisting the affected people,” said Tadateru Konoé, president of the Japanese Red Cross Society.
Investments in early-warning systems and disaster preparedness and other training programs, including those from the American Red Cross following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, paid off in the Pacific Basin yesterday. Red Cross societies in Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Palau and Fiji, for example, undoubtedly saved lives by alerting and evacuating residents when the tsunami warnings sounded.
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — American Red Cross volunteers give boxed meals provided by the 374th Force Support Squadron, to passengers at the Taiyo Community Center here March 11. The passengers arrived to the base after their commercial flights were diverted from Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan, following an earthquake that struck near Tokyo.
U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Andrea Salazar
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Delta Airline passengers take shelter inside the Taiyo Community Center here March 11. American Red Cross volunteers provided blankets, pillows, food and water for aircraft passengers whose planes were diverted from Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan, following an earthquake near Tokyo.
U.S. Air Force photo/Airman John D. Partlow
To respond to the needs of those concerned about relatives in the affected regions International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is encouraging those living overseas to make use of its restoring family links web page: www.icrc.org/familylinks.
Those who want to help can go to www.redcross.org and donate to Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami. People can also text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation’s blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.
Please consider donating if you can to the link provided. Please list any other ways that you have found to help and share them with us below.
I really enjoy recycling clothes and its true that with a little assistance that I can make darn near anything out of an old T-shirt, but I’ve always been drawn to knitting and crochet. The trouble is that I don’t actually know anyone who does it and everyone who has tried it complained that they couldn’t sort it out. Luckily, a friend of mine is currently happily knitting away at wash cloths and some very elaborate squares (I think to be used in a blanket). So I figured, it’s now or never… I’ve ordered a video from Amazon entitled 
and 
. We’ll see how this goes…. Next, I purchased some beginner project items from 
