Saturday, March 12, 2011

Japan Relief Giveaway

Eight years ago, about this time, I was a sophomore in high school trying to make a rather huge decision--the choice between continuing at my small town public school, taking classes I wasn't thrilled at, and staring down two more years of bullying with no friends to stand beside me, or transferring to a tech school with the few friends I had and studying art. At the time, my day revolved around my art classes, where I spent hours drawing comics and comic inspired art. I wrote my math notes as comic strips, and fanart of my favorite anime characters popped up on almost all of my homework. Depressed, stuck, and feeling hopeless about my future, I made the decision to make the study of art my primary focus, and that focus turned my life around. I've made so many friends through the world of anime and manga fans. Cosplay helped inspire my love of textiles and fiber art, and I learned so much from the readers of fanfiction which has influenced the novels I'm currently writing.

It could be argued, in a way, that manga saved me. Today Japan, the birthplace of my favorite artform, is in trouble, with hundreds of thousands dead, missing, injured, or displaced after this weeks earthquake, tsunami, and the subsequent nuclear emergencies.

I'll be honest. I'm broke right now. But I still sent $25 to Doctors Without Borders to help with the relief effort. I want to send more, but I can't, so I want to encourage others to send what they can, so from now until April 1st, if you donate your time/money/food/blood/etc to the relief organization of your choice and leave a comment telling me about it, you'll be entered to win one of the prize packs I've put together below. I'll be posting the names of the winners the first week of April (date is TBA), so make sure you check back to see who they are (please, please, please make sure that you have your name in the post somewhere, and/or a way I can contact you, otherwise I'll have to draw someone else's name if you don't respond).

The grand prize winner will receive the following:



One issue each of Vogue Knitting, Spin off, and Otaku USA; Knitting for Good, by Betsy Greer; How to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 1; the OST for Noir; a selection of anime sampler discs; two skeins of my own Jack the Ripper handspun (100% superwash merino, hand dyed and blended); and a crochet/knit dishcloth and handtowel set, plus a smattering of chocolate and any other cute little Japanese trinkets I can pull together when I head up to New Japan this week.

The runner up will receive:


Two issues of Vogue Knitting; one issue of Otaku USA; one issue of Shojo Beat; TM Revolution's Seventh Heaven CD; 2 balls of my hand spun Ectoplasm yarn (100% bamboo); a crocheted dishcloth and handtowel set; a selection of anime sampler discs, plus a smattering of chocolate and some other trinkets from New Japan.

In addition, 25% of all sales from my Etsy Shop will be donated to Doctors Without Borders, and 100% of all sales of my ebooks (those are also available in the shop).

Arigato gozaimasu.

29 comments:

  1. Hi! This is a great idea. I'm donating thru American Red Cross, and Farmville has a donation drive going too which I kicked in on. (waves from Ravelry Otaku Lounge)

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  2. I've made a personal donation, am donating a portion of all sales in my Etsy shop and plan to organize a toy drive for the affected children of Japan (I'm a toy maker, so I have strong feelings about giving toys to children).

    I think it's so sweet that you're having this giveaway. I found out about it on Ravelry. :)

    Cheers,
    Eleanor
    eleanor(at)unfamiliarceiling(dot)com
    www.unfamiliarceiling.com

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  3. Thanks for hosting this contest! I've been wanting to donate but this post gave me the kick in the pants I needed to go to the Red Cross website. I donated $50, which is probably a little more than I can afford at the moment, but considering how much I spend on anime and manga year-round when I can't really afford it, giving a little more seemed appropriate. I'll be spreading the word about your contest on facebook!

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  4. Bless your heart! and thank you! This is a great idea :)
    My husband and I have donated to the Canadian Red Cross - they have a special way of donating online so you can donate specifically to the relief efforts for Japan. (We donate to the Red Cross every time there is a disaster, so we've gotten very good at clicking through on our donations)
    I have also been visualizing the nuclear reactors stabilizing, and the destruction being contained.

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  5. What a great idea! I'm in Okinawa, Japan (a 2-3 hour flight south of mainland) and our island wasn't affected physically by the events but it sure has caused many to want to give. I donated some clothes and blankets to the troops to take there. I'm in the process of making knitted bracelets (I've made 2 so far) to sell and give the proceeds to CRASH (http://www.crashjapan.com/). I wanted to use my knitting obsession to help out some. Hopefully I'll be able to sell some and help the victims!

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  6. what a wonderful idea.
    by texting 30333 (at least in Canada, where I am) and putting ASIA as the message, $5 gets sent to the Red cross, and you can do this 6 times a month. This is a really great way to give, and you can pace yourself if you are on a budget.

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  7. What a nice idea! My brother and his family live in Tokyo, and we haven't heard from them since Sunday (they were okay then).

    I donated to the Red Cross tonight, and sent my receipt to Little Knits, where Fulay Little is matching all donations up to $10,000.

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  8. I donated my monthly yarn budget to DWOB

    My name on Rav is Canuckchick

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  9. What a beautiful gesture. I was supposed to shop for a vacuum cleaner this weekend; instead, I sent the money I had saved for it to Médecins Sans Frontières. I can still use my broom in the meantime, right?

    My hear is so heavy for Japan.

    (my name on ravelry is KittyStitches)

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  10. I finally learned to text (no joke!) so I could text REDCROSS to 90999 and donate $10 to the Japanese relief effort. Every few days I send off another one - what a great way to use up all those minutes moldering away in my account! :)

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  11. What an awesome contest! I have donated with swag bucks as funds are low here at home. My husband and I both also texted to donate $10 and next week is the blood drive I will donate at :) Thanks so much for a shot at a couple great prizes.

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  12. I'm so sorry my last comment my husband (Jeremy) was signed in...opps! It really is

    Tera
    TeraRowe@gmail.com

    Thanks!

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  13. This is a brilliant idea, I've donated through the red cross. So glad to hear Japan have helped you through a difficult time, I think it's wonderful that you're helping them now!

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  14. I have made a personal donation, and am donating all proceedings from my pattern Selbu Style Socks to the Red Cross to help people in Japan. The link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/selbu-style-socks

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  15. Thanks for the incentive! I donated to Heart to Heart and specified Japan relief.

    I found out about your contest on Ravelry where I'm Lindaran.

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  16. Well done for this..brilliant idea.
    My fiance and I both donated to the UK Red Cross through a company that matched our donation.

    I am hoping to knit flower brooches and sell them to friends next month (after our wedding) as Im sure the Japanese people will need our support for a long time to come.

    Louise aka Littlelou1975 on Rav

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  17. What a wonderful idea . My son and his wife and son live in Osaka, and while I thank God that they are safe, my heart goes out to all of the people of Japan, so many lost. My donation went to Save The Children.

    Noreen (noirin on Ravelry)

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  18. Hi :) I'm so glad I found this post on Ravelry! I am trying to help by crocheting things for the survivors (scarfs and squares for blankets) I am also raising awareness on facebook and trying to get my friends to knit or crochet squares for a group who is making them into blankets. I absolutely love anime, and my partner does a lot of anime style drawings. We are also planning a trip to Japan in the future, it is both mine and my partners dream! This giveaway is amazing, fingers crossed and hope it helps raise awareness!

    Samantha xx

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  19. Hope this isn't a duplicate
    I donated on Sunday to Samaritans Purse run by Franklin Graham. They were the first organization on the ground after the disaster struck.

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  20. It is great for you to do this and I enjoyed reading your bio. Love what you do and have faith the money will follow. Japan's people are an inspiration to us all right now and I will continue to donate through various organizations. Thank you for the inspiration and encouragement to help others. Joanie

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  21. I started a group on Ravelry to discuss what we can do in the world to help the efforts in Japan. I lived there for a while, down south, so my friends are not directly affected by the whole disaster. It has been horrible. I also donated to Shelterbox, which has a cool idea to help with relief efforts. Thanks for doing this, it is a great idea!

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  22. I donated to the Red Cross and hope to make another donation next payday. We are having a bake sale at work next weekend to raise money for the Red Cross.

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  23. Hi! I donated to the Canadian Red Cross. I also told Facebook I'd knit anyone a hat if they donated money. I got one hit so far.

    Thanks so much for doing this; I did a research exchange in Japan last summer and it makes me so sad that so many lovely people I met have to go through all this.

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  24. My DD and I just sent a box to Socks for Japan. See the jasonkelly.com/helpforjapan site to see how carefully he has arranged a relief service that 1. does not interfere with other relief organizations. 2. does not hog local resources 3. is truely needed and appreciated.

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  25. I've donated to Convoy of Hope, International Medical Corps and have sent 17 pairs of socks to Socks for Japan.

    Laughingwolf on Ravelry

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  26. I've started knitting socks and tomorrow I'll send my first socks through http://www.jasonkelly.com/helpforjapan
    I'm posting the socks on my Ravelry-account to inspire everyone to join.

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  27. Hai,
    I find it great that you care so much!
    I'll donate here in Holland to the Red Cross

    All the best, clasina from ravelry

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  28. In addition to donating through my cell phone, I also donated and volunteered through my kids school. We had about ten Japanese people there and they wrote our names in Japanese, you could get photographed wearing a wedding kimono, watch videos on Japanese food preparation, try origami and buy ones already made. The school raised quite a bit of money that way and the kids got a better appreciation of Japan and a closer connection to the people who need our help.

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  29. I have donated to the red cross Japan relief, bought many great patterns on line that are giving % of price to the relief effort, knitting a prayer shawl to send over, my class of kindergarteners are learning how to make cranes.

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