File Under: My Friend Aya and her benefit to help her people.

Regular readers of this blog know I support my friend Aya Inoue in her musical pursuits (The Leaves, Amida Bourbon Project), today I'm asking you all to support her latest project.  She and her sister have put together a benefit concert to help the people of Northern Japan.  The show will be this Friday, March 18 at the Parima Thai Restaurant in Burlington.  Since I know most of you (including me) won't be able to make it, please donate using their Chip-In.



Any amount will help.

From Aya's email:

Hi everybody...
I hope this email finds everybody safe and healthy and in good spirits... it has been a difficult week for me as I have felt extremely helpless watching my country go through such distress and turmoil.  I keep wanting to turn off the television because it is so painful to watch, yet I cannot sleep because I need to know what is going to happen.  I find myself scared to fall asleep, for fear of waking up to find out something bad has happend... again...  I hate to sound so doom and gloom about this all, but this is really how it has felt the past week.  It has been a feeling that is hard to describe.  The poor people in Tohoku (north) who have lost their lives, their families, their children, their parents... my own family and childhood friends who are now scared to sleep because of the aftershocks.  My father has informed me that local grocery stores have closed due to a shortage of food, and I get photo updates from friends showing a Tokyo that is blanketed in darkness from a scheduled blackout.  Through these, my family and friends lay awake through aftershocks, and await the latest news from the accident at the nuclear power plant. 

I have felt helpless and powerless from Vermont... to say the least.  But I have decided to channel my anxiety and fear into something productive.  My sister and I have researched different organizations and have decided to raise money for a NGO which we feel will place money where it really needs to go right now. The local office in Japan is located about ten minutes from our home in Tokyo, making it a true local donation for us.  The organization is called Trade Winds Japan, partnered through Trade Winds America
( http://peacewindsamerica.org/support/ )

I will be playing a benefit concert this Friday, March 18th at Parima Thai Restaurant, with a group of wonderful Burlington artists who have volunteered their time and talent for the cause.  We will be asking a $15 minimum donation for this event.  I have had such a wonderful response from folks who have said they would like to contribute but are unable to attend the event.  As a result of this, my sister and I have created a "Chip In" Widget to help boost our fundraiser beyond Burlington, and to network our resources and ask for help to you all.  Through social networking and word of mouth, our goal is to raise at least $4000 by the end of March for our friends, family, and neighbors in Japan. 

I appreciate any donation you can give, but even if you can't donate, if you could pass this on to even one person... that would mean the entire world to me.  Thank you so much to everyone for reading this and here's to hoping to a fast recovery for Japan. Here is the link to the Chip In:

http://burlingtonaidtojapan.chipin.com/2011-japan-earthquaketsunami-victims


Truly,
Aya