Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Fundraising Update!

Total donations raised as of today from print sales: $3907!* $4907!

(*update: Oops, I forgot to include the $1000 that ING Direct matched)

Being that it's just a little over 2 months since the disaster hit Japan, I thought I should update you all on how much my cousin and I have raised so far in donations. She is up to $2000 USD, which has gone to Mercy Corps via Artists Help Japan, and I'm at $1907 $2907 CDN, which has gone to the Canadian Red Cross. Thanks so much!

Here's a picture taken by Sota from Crane for a Dollar at the VIVO fundraising event in March 2011. Sota has been selling buttons for a dollar and is going around local elementary schools here in the Lower Mainland, to teach kids about what happened in Japan and what it means to be compassionate, alongside button making and crane folding. He has partnered with local businesses to raise funds for Japan. Check out his website for the great work he's doing.

As for my prints, there are still some available online at my Etsy store, or at a couple of places like Blim, Blim's monthly market, and supposedly the Nikkei Centre's gift shop.

Thanks again to all who are supporting the relief efforts in Japan. We wish the victims in Japan the best in their recovery. There are daffodils growing amongst the tsunami ruins. Spring has arrived.

Bake for the Quake

Do you like cake? Go get some baked goods at Bake for the Quake this Wednesday April 20th, 2011 from 6-830pm at the Roundhouse! Some of my prints will be there and all donations will be going to Doctors without Borders for Japan. Cake... nom nom nom nom.

***UPDATE: They raised $7136 that evening! Awesomes!

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Fundraising Update!

Total donations raised as of today: $2310!!!

Thanks for your support for Japan! You guys are amazing!!!

$1300 USD: The portion raised by my cousin Emika in Seattle, has been donated to Mercy Corps via the Artists Help Japan Fund. We've boosted their fund to go over the $2000 mark! Yay!

$1010 CDN: The portion we've raised here in Canada is going to the Canadian Red Cross as promised!

Extra thanks to those who've passed along the prints, given me contacts and printing help, came down to the fundraiser, posted on their websites, blogs and social media, and have sent me encouragement. And the Financial Literacy Counsel Inc for funding the prints!

Japan's recovery is far from complete, and today's 7.5 aftershock reminds us of the uncertainty ahead.

Prints are still available at helloyumiko.etsy.com or email me to get one directly

$10 minimum donation

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Upcoming local fundraisers where you can find my prints:

April 16, 2011
FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON: Japan Disaster Relief Dinner (100% tix sales to Red Cross excluding tax) 6-930pm with speech from the Japan Embassy ***UPDATE: They raised $7000 that night! Nice work!

April 24th, 2011

BLIM'S COMMUNITY MARKET: I Heart Japan Table (100% donations going to Red Cross) 12-5pm

May 5th, 2011
ART AUCTION: SAKURA SAKU NIHON E (To the Land of Cherry Blossoms) Waterfall Event Building 4-9pm

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Here are some links to artists fundraising for Japan!

- Crane for a Dollar by United Front animator Sota Yuyama

- BC Japan Earthquake Relief Fund: Calendar of Events

- Bake for the Quake: Bake sale at the Roundhouse

- Worldwide Sketchcrawl: Benefit Drawing Marathon for Japan

- Artists Help Japan - Toronto (kinda jealous there isn't one in Vancouver!)

- Artists Help Japan Movement

... feel free to leave links to other fundraising projects in the comments below :)

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If I can say one more thing: We can't negotiate or reason with the earth to stop shaking. Let's learn more about how to be prepared for earthquakes so we can be useful to others when disaster strikes. Vancouver has free workshops here and here to get started.

Nippon Makeruna! prints for sale:
100% of the proceeds will go to the Red Cross.

Please continue to support the relief efforts in Japan by purchasing a print for a minimum donation of $10!

All proceeds will go to the Canadian Red Cross.

8.5 x 7.5" digital print on 12pt cardstock, coated on one side

Please purchase through my Etsy store: www.helloyumiko.etsy.com

or email me directly at helloyumiko @ gmail.com

These prints have been made possible by a generous donation from the Financial Literacy Counsel Inc. who so kindly paid for the printing costs. www.flci.ca

I initially drew this drawing because I felt quite distraught and useless in the days following the disaster in Japan. Drawing surprisingly made me feel better as it expressed how I felt from the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Requests for prints have turned into a fundraising effort and I thank you kindly for your care and support for Japan. This is the least I can do to try and help Japan, as I watch in awe of the stories of courage, leadership and spirit that come from that country.

(A little 3-4 year old boy who clung onto his mom, was interviewed on NHK. He showed his drawings of the tsunami that had chased after him. They were drawn in black and blue crayon with swirls and sharp lines. He probably feels a hundred times more distraught than I did, but maybe drawing made him feel a little better, as it did for me.)

***Update: I have been invited to sell my prints at the Friends Across the Pacific: Japan Earthquake Benefit tomorrow at the VIVO Media Arts Centre on March 31st. Maybe I'll see you there :)

http://bc-jerf.ca/friends-across-the-pacific

"Nippon! Makeruna!"

I guess that loosely translates to, "Japan! Don't give up!"

Thank you for caring about Japan. My relatives are all okay but my brave uncle is helping to restore the electricity so our prayers are with him, as well as the rest of the country.

My mom saw a moving story on NHK last night of a boy in junior high who has, despite either losing or is missing loved ones, rounded up people to create a big banner and hung it in his high school, which is now an evacuation centre. It reads, "Gambare! Ikiteru koto o yorokobo!"

Japanese is so hard to translate the emotion behind the words, but it says (excuse my unjust translation), "We can do it! Let's all be joyful in knowing that we are still alive!"

I can't find a link about it, but if I do, I'll put it here because I'm no news reporter.

***Update: I am selling prints for a $10 minimum donation. 100% will go to the Red Cross. To purchase, please visit www.helloyumiko.etsy.com or email me directly. Thanks :)