On Mar. 18, 2011, when Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami, life in Japan changed forever for thousands of people most of us have never met and will never know.

I'm still processing what happened.

If you're like me, you want to do something to help -- something IMMEDIATE. That's why last week I set up this fundraising page to help the American Red Cross support disaster relief work in Japan.

This campaign is scheduled to end on Sunday, Mar. 20. It started just hours after the tsunami hit with a goal to raise $10,000. But together, over the last week, thousands of small donors like you and me across the U.S. and around the world gave much more. Together, we've contributed over $80,000 to the Red Cross.

If you can, please join me and my friends listed below and make a gift. Skip the morning latte at Starbucks or lunch out. Or maybe skip the happy hour after work. (Or maybe don't skip any of that -- I don't know -- just give what you can.)

Because you if do, somewhere, someone in Japan will get a hot meal and a place to sleep. It may be someone who is staying at this Red Cross shelter in Otsuchi, Japan.

For that, I thank you.

John (@jbtaylor)

p.s. Every dollar you give goes directly to the disaster fund for Red Cross work in Japan. There is no administrative fee by SXSW4Japan.org and all credit card processing fees are being covered by the fundraising firm which is hosting this website.

p.p.s. Though this effort was organized people people attending South by Southwest Interactive, a tech conference in Austin, Texas, I didn't make it to Austin this year, but I love how this technology made it possible for immediate social action. That seemed like reason enough to participate.

At SXSW this year, there's a lot of discussion and debate about influence. Now it's time to stand up and be truly influential as we raise support for tsunami relief.

Japan faces one of its most devastating natural disasters in 100 years. On March 11th, walls of water swept across rice fields, engulfing towns, dragging houses onto highways, tossing cars and boats like toys and consuming lives. The potential human loss is unimaginable, with thousands missing and early reports of hundreds reported dead. Aftershocks and additional earthquakes continue to threaten the region, sending shock waves across the nation and the world.


The CauseVox team will cover the cost of the transaction fees so 100% of your donation goes to the American Red Cross.