My father and my grandparents were staying in a motel in Crescent City, California while my grandfather was on a job in 1964. Just a week later, on Good Friday, the motel and everything near it was wiped out by a tsunami triggered by an 8.6 earthquake in Alaska. After watching the events unfold in Japan, I feel incredibly lucky to be here. Sure, Crescent City had a little damage after the Japanese tsunami on March 11 of this year, and someone was swept in the waves, but nothing like the devastation of 1964. And even that pales in comparison to the Japanese tsunami devastation. It's overwhelming.
What started as a tweet from Samin Nosrat for help with a Bay Area bake sale to benefit Japanese disaster relief has turned into a huge event with locations all over California, Austin, Chicago and even Hawaii. Last year Samin organized a sale to benefit Haiti disater relief to which many of my friends contributed that raised over $23,000 (!) and with this sale she hopes raise even more. The logo above comes from the dedicated Bake Sale for Japan website, and is just one of the many goods and services donated by the generous Bay Area food community to this effort. When I last checked, they were interested in donations of both origami paper for folding paper cranes at the sale, as well as volunteers to teach others to fold cranes. Please come join us and show your support for the Japanese affected by this devastating earthquake and tsunami.
When: Saturday, April 2, 2011, 10am-2pm
Where: All over! I will be at the Berkeley sale hosted by Gioia Pizzeria and Monterey Market, but there are locations in Oakland, SF, Santa Cruz for Bay Area folks, and all the other places mentioned above. There are new locations still being added, so check the locations page of the Bake Sale for Japan website for the latest.
If you cannot make the sale, but wish to support the cause, click here to donate to Peace Winds Japan as part of this fundraiser. I believe there will also be donation boxes at the sale to just make a contribution.
Tomato Tart is also hosting a virtual bake sale to benefit Japan, Wednesday March 30. The money will go Second Harvest, a food bank.
So many food writers have written so eloquently about their personal experiences in Japan, and Irvin has compiled links of these special Japan posts at Eat the Love if you would like to read more.
