I stayed up into the early morning hours in New York City and watched the earthquake and tsunami wreck havoc in Japan, and it’s people. It was heartbreaking.
Then it was back to the business at hand today.
But it’s time to take a break and send our friends in Japan condolences, positive thoughts and best wishes
“When you see what’s happening in Japan, you are reminded that for all our differences in culture or language or religion, that ultimately humanity is one,” President Obama said.
As I strolled through the streets of New York on a particularly beautiful late Winter day on the way back from meeting with a client, I cut through Union Square and saw two men soliciting aid to ‘Help Japan”. I asked them which organization they were affiliated with and didn’t get a straight answer. I offered to take their picture to spread word of the good they were doing. I got a straight answer: No. I suspect that they were more interested in helping themselves.
Then I came across a Facebook Page update from Attorney Credits, a CLE provider taking time out of their day to offer information about where to find resources to help the victims of Japan. It contained a link to the USA Today piece, How to help the victims of the Japan earthquake which provides information on how we can help. [UPDATE: Another useful link from CNN's blog: Tsunami aid and relief: How you can help] I recommend using the resources listed in the articles instead of contributing to street vendors to avoid being scammed.
“We stand with them as they recover and rebuild from this tragedy.” Yes, Mr. President, we do.
(image: http://coolvibe.com/2011/stay-strong-japan/)
Hi Tim,
Thank you for sharing where you can help Japan without worrying if the help will actually get there. It’s so annoying to hear about your experience today with people trying to exploit the tragedy. I guess that will always happen but it’s awful to hear about. It’s heartbreaking so watch the news. I’ve been watching the videos on CNN and it almost seems surreal. We even had a tsunami warning here in BC. But everything was fine of course. Excellent post Tim.
Sam
Thanks, Sam. Today was such a busy day, a stark reminder that life goes on, but when not engaged, it was difficult trying to concentrate. This was all the writing I could muster. Thought about you when the warning expanded to include the North America Pacific coast. Glad to hear you’re fine.
Thank you Tim, it’s of course very necessary during these sad days.