Tea Lovers Help Japan

REPOSTED MESSAGE FROM OBUBU TEA PLANTATIONS
As many of you already know, Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations is collecting donations at www.obubutea.com/donate to create a fund for helping individual tea lovers and resellers recover and rebuild.

We have so far collected over $1115 through "purchases" of "sakura sencha of cheer" and "sakura sencha of hope", our virtual cups of tea for those who have been affected by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.  We hope our small effort will directly impact specific individuals and businesses as they repair and refurnish their, and in one case relocate their business.

Donation link: http://www.obubutea.com/donate

EXTEND YOUR SUPPORT:  Please consider placing a link to our donation site on your own website!


DIRECT RELIEF
Obubu itself has used company funds to donate 2000 sets of soup and noodles, ramen and tea candy to Ishimaki City in Miyagi Prefecture where some 2000 people were living at the Ishinomaki Kahoku Center and Sumiyoshi elementary school. Our contact there, Mr. Ito (and his dog Chibi), helped to coordinate. With help from Obubu in publicizing how to send food and clothing, the center was able to receive some 350 boxes of goods. (See photos of people holding up thank you messages on Sankei Shimbun Newspaper Online: http://photo.sankei.jp.msn.com/info/data/2011/Earthquake/hinanzyo/0321ishinomaki/ )


PHOTO & ART CONTEST: "LET HOPE BLOSSOM!"

What was originally intended to be a contest celebrating spring and the new spring flush of tea has been reappropriated for the effort to raise hope and cheer in Japan. Obubu is giving away weekly prizes of sakura tea and overall prizes of winners' choice of three tea bags. We also allow entrants to choose to make their photography and artwork available on http://www.operationsakura.org for use by others doing fundraising for Japan.

Photographs will be shown to Japan through our Japanese website www.obubu.com, and will also be featured on various tea blogs including www.travelandtea.com
(please contact us if you'd like to feature entries)

Thank you all for your support!

KEEP UP TO DATE ON RELIEF EFFORTS HERE