"I think human beings survive because  

they help each other."  

~ Japanese resident 

As a youth living in Wading River, I remember going to church at St. John the Baptist. There weren't many people living there year round in the 50's and the church struggled. During the summer the population and the attendance at the church surged. My parents joked that during the winter there was one collection, but during the summer two sometimes three. There was a special collection for heating, church maintenance catechism and more. You almost dreaded going to church in the summer because of the increased requests and also the extra time. After all; especially for me, the water was waiting!

The reason I relate this story is because the bakery just finished raising funds for the Great Purple Cupcake Project which benefited epilepsy awareness. I am now going to ask for your support and donations again.

Just the other day a member of the Bread Baker's Guild Kumiko Nobe wrote a letter that I received over the internet. He wrote

"I live in NYC but am now in Japan. I have witnessed first hand the devastation of the March 10 earthquake; one of the most powerful ever recorded. Thousands have died, many countless others missing or wounded. Many survivors lost everything including family members, their homes and livelihoods. Sorry to bring this topic not related to baking; however I feel it is my duty as a Japanese citizen and as a humanistic person to reach out to my fellow human beings and request a donation to help those in need."

This letter touched me in a way I don't quite understand. Perhaps because Japan is developed much as the United States is, you could easily substitute Huntington or any of our communities in their place. We have all worked hard to create our standard of living and in one instant that is gone for millions of people in Japan.

Many retail bakers around the country are organizing what we call "The American Bake Sale for Japan". For the entire month of April my bakery will donate 10% of its proceeds to the Red Cross Japan Relief Effort. In addition each week we will feature an item that we will donate 25% of the purchase price. I know this is going to be a drop in the bucket for filling the need but perhaps all of us need to show that our fellow human beings are important to us all.

Thank you as always for reading and hope you join me in this effort.

Click here to donate to the Japan Relief Effort.