help me help japan.

the pictures and video of the devastating earthquake in japan last week are just...heartbreaking.

i first heard about it as i perused my twitter feed, read that CNN was broadcasting live video, and rushed into the bedroom to tell the hub and turn it on.  i was kind of afraid of what i would see - the tweets i was reading told of people trying to speed to safety in their cars as the huge tsunami waves came towards them.  that's really freaking scary - i don't even like watching movies about horrific events like that. 

we sat on the bed in horror as the camera panned over the ships that had washed up onto dry land, toppled onto their sides, the people waving from their upper-story windows as the water crept up to their level, the incredibly huge balls of fire that raged from the oil refinery.  amazing and awful.  it scares me that we could easily be victims when "the next big one" hits - and that could happen anytime.  i fear for my mom and stepdad, who live damn near on the coast. 

i have a lot of faith in the power of prayer.  but i'm also fully aware that japan needs more than prayers - they need help.  supplies.  food.  water.  now, i believe that praying for help will...help.  but there ain't nothing more helpful right now than cold, hard cash.  i'm thinking that a lot of you have already made donations to the red cross and other organizations who are gearing up to offer as much assistance as possible, but if you haven't...

i'm donating 15% of all of my stella & dot sales for the next few weeks towards the japan relief efforts.  it's the only real income i have these days, and i really want to do something.  it won't even be a drop in the bucket, but i'm hoping that maybe you or someone you know has been eyeing a piece from the new spring line, or maybe want to pick something up for a birthday gift.  plus, there's mother's day, administrative professionals' day, graduations...know what i mean?  and if you're local to me and have been thinking about hosting a trunk show, that works too. 

i've been going back and forth on whether or not it's totally tacky to do this, but whatever.  maybe it'll work, maybe not.  either way, i figure it's worth a shot.  right?