Show Some Love For Japan

When Katrina hit I made a donation to the Red Cross.  When the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka I made a donation the Red Cross.  When Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake, I made a donation to the Red Cross.  When Chile had their earthquake, I again made a donation to the Red Cross.  Japan recently experienced a huge earthquake, followed by a devastating tsunami and the threat of radioactive contamination.  I am broke.  With the loss of my job and struggling to find new freelance work I felt paralyzed in any effort to lend a financial hand. 

I have had a long time love affair with Japan.  I studied Japanese martial arts for 7 years, read every Japanese author I could get my hands on, studied the language at NYU for a time and visited the country twice (ok, I also dated a Japanese guy for 4 years....I guess that sort of rounds things out).  So, I have been wracking my brain about how to do my part to help and finally came up with an answer.  However, it requires your help as well.  I'm sure many of you have already done your part, but I know this relief effort is going to go on for some time to come.

I have designed a logo that marries triathlon, Japan and a willingness to help.  I then opened a Cafe Press shop where one can buy that logo on T-shirts (men, women, kids and babies), water bottles, tote bags, etc.  There is a base price for the items and any profit is my markup above that.  I have made this $5.00.  This $5.00 is 100% profit and every cent of it will go to the Red Cross.  I will make nothing on this.  You, however, will get a cool (cuz I think it looks pretty cool) T-shirt or whatever and know that you are helping out at the same time.

Here is the logo as you may not get the full appreciation of it on the store site (you can click to enlarge it).

Please click the link to visit my store or you can just click this logo image on my sidebar on the upper right of the blog.  I am also relying on you to pass on this post or my blog so that more people can be reached to make a donation.  I really appreciate your help in this effort.