The first charitable organization plug in TJI was for earthquake relief, after a 7.2 shock hit Kobe, Japan, on January 17, 1995:
Nine days after Elvis would have turned 60 and almost exactly one year after California’s most damaging earthquake ever (in dollar terms), Kobe, Japan, was hit with a quake that made Northridge look like a walk in the park.
Faced with dollar damages in the twelve figures, Japan will be reeling from this disaster for years. Disaster aid agencies are especially strained by such widespread misery.
If you’d like to help, a number of organizations can use your help to replenish their coffers and to help pay for continuing aid. If you don’t know who else to give to, the American Red Cross, typically one of the first out of the gate when help is needed, is ready to hear from you.
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Since the Red Cross didn’t have a web site yet, and it wouldn’t have done much good if they had one since there wasn’t such a thing as e-commerce yet, the plug listed phone numbers for people to call with donation pledges. We’ve come a long way.
In March 2011, I ran another fundraiser for a Japanese earthquake myself: the Sendai quake and tsunami.