The tragedy in Japan has worked its way into everyone's psyche. We are devastated by events in this beautiful country.
In BADRAP, we have an added reason to feel connected to the tragedy. Our own Linda Chwistek's family is from Japan and their ties are deep. Her family is thankfully safe but as you can expect, recent updates have been nothing less than excruciating.
After Hurricane Katrina, our hearts were (and still are) with New Orleans, and you helped us fly in right after the storms to do rescue work as well as to raise funds to rebuild the Louisiana SPCA.
We can't go to Japan to help with relief efforts (If only we thought we could be useful) but we're hoping to raise money to send to a Japanese recovery efforts on behalf of Linda's family.
Linda is currently working with the Japanese-American community to identify a reputable non-profit organization that will use the funds wisely towards rescue and/or recovery efforts. It's important to all of us that nothing is 'misdirected' towards unrelated projects.
Asking for an online Vote -- Just a vote.
At this early date, we haven't designated a Japanese organization for donations yet, but have a time-sensitive opportunity that will bring an immediate $500 for this goal ...
Our good friends at Paco Collars have been in second place in the San Francisco BayList contest and have pledged their prize of $500 to BADRAP if they get the highest number of votes for "Best Pet Couture." The good news is, they really deserve that title.
The contest is in its final days and ends March 18. If they win, we'll use the prize money as a pledge and see if we can't grow it to a bigger number before sending it to a worthy organization in Japan. (And if Paco Collars doesn't win, we'll still find a way to send a donation to recovery efforts in Japan.)
The number of online contests out there can be tiring, so we really appreciate your help with this. We'll announce if we luck into this seed money on our facebook page, as well as which organization we plan to send it to.
With prayers of strength and healing, we thank you for joining us in finding ways to extend friendship and comfort to Japan.
Warmly,
All of us at BADRAP