Permalink to this Post: http://bit.ly/japanlaundromat
In case you’ve glanced at the news even superficially in the last few days (or Twitter, apparently) you probably know that Japan was struck with a massive 9.0 earthquake. While Japan is a fairly advanced country, and probably any other nation would have been reduced to rubble by such an event, the fact of the matter is that there’s a lot of people over there that are scared, hurting and suffering.
So I’m going to make you a fairly similar deal than a little bit over a year ago for the Haiti quake. For a lot of us, going to Japan to help directly is not an option – with my lack of real life, survival or practical skills, you could possibly make things worse or stand in the way. But there are ways to donate and help out. And I thought that besides my own donation (go go Doctors without Borders!) I could also encourage YOU, kind readers, to donate.
That’s why if you donate anything to Japan relief efforts between March 11th and April 5th, through any organization of your choice (there’s a lot of good options out there — see below for some pointers) I’ll send the following your way.
- Donate any amount, I’ll send you a 5×7 glossy postcard of the Atomic Laundromat cast
- Donate $20 USD and above, and I’ll send you the postcard and a character sketch (your choice) on 8.5×11″ bristol.
- Donate $75 USD and above, and I’ll send you the postcard, sketch and an Atomic Laundromat strip original (my choice). Most of my strips are traditionally made, so this would be a nice piece of art if you like the comic. Also, bearing in mind I don’t have a store or do cons, this is the only way to get originals right now. JUST SAYIN’
All you have to do is send me proof of your donation to armando@atomiclaundromat.com with your mailing address. DON’T SEND ME ANY MONEY. By the way, if you donate in a way that has no obvious “proof” – dropping off a sack of canned food at a collection center, or depositing money at your local church – email me anyways. I think that for something like this, we can do the honor system. Although a picture of a reader with a sack of cans would be awesome (I actually got one last time).
Shipping: I’ll ship anywhere (I’ll eat the shipping cost as an extra donation), but if you live outside the US, I only beg for your patience. For the Haiti quake sketches, some took a long time to get to their destination (sometimes after multiple tries). And if I forgot you last time, send me a quick note and I’ll take care of it.
Where to Donate: There’s a lot of charities here that you can look up. Be very mindful of who you give your money to: sadly, there are so many scams going on right now it’s a bit ridiculous.
So… that’s it folks. I’m a little bit scared about doing this again, since my readership is substantially larger now, but if I can help in any way I’m happy to do so. Those of you that know me realize I have a deep fondness for Japan (last year alone I was there on three occasions) and I have good friends and colleagues over there who are in my thoughts and prayers.
Besides, I have a refugee.
