For Japan with Love

I'm sitting at my breakfast table with Jonathan noisily slurping the last of his cereal and Lucy busily writing out notecards for a school assignment. My life is extraordinary in its ordinariness. (<–Is that a word?)

We're in California. Earthquakes happen here. We usually just "roll with them." And then there was Japan. We've all seen the breathtakingly sad are images from the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami.

I picture families at breakfast tables much like our own getting on with their day when the tragedy struck.

And my heart breaks from the devastation and from the feeling of impotence.

What can I do?

We have so, so much.

So I am joining hundreds of other bloggers today in a day of silence, for Japan with love. (Technically, I should have posted this yesterday and been completely silent today, but I'm posting now since I just found out about it, and I'm Cuban. Silence is tough for us, but that's not important right now.)

Bloggers from Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours have organized to raise money for Japan. All donations will go towards emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies via Shelterbox.

From the Shelterbox donation page:

We've all seen the images and videos rolling in of the devastation from the Japan earthquake and tsunamis. While aftershocks and tsunami scares are still happening days later, the nation is in for a long long road of recovery. So far, the death toll is estimated to be 2,800. In just one town, 9,500 are missing. Not only do the survivors have to suffer the loss of loved ones, but as temperatures fall, electricity, water and food are now scarce to none. Many have tried to go back to their homes and to start picking up the pieces, only to find the tsunamis have plowed their homes down and there is literally nothing for them to come home to. Convenience stores have lines hours long and a limit of 10 items to each person. The second crisis has only begun and so many are left helpless.

We are not ones to sit and do nothing. While as much as we'd like to hop on a plane and fly there to help with the search and rescue, the immediate need for help for those in Japan is the dire need for shelter. This fundraising page is specifically geared to help with that. Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours have handpicked ShelterBox as the organization to donate to.

ShelterBox provide emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. Each large green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. A whole box costs $1,000 (US), so we're hoping to raise enough to send 5 boxes.

Please join us. We know it won't save the nation, but we strongly believe every little helps. Whatever you can contribute, we truly appreciate.

Here’s how you can help:

Donate by clicking on this link to For Japan with love or Shelterbox.

Share this on your own blog.

Go hug your family.

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