I am sure you all know that Manu’s Menu took part to the Online Bake Sale organised by Sabrina from The Tomato Tart to raise money for Japan. The Bake Sale took place on March 30th and 31st. The aim was to raise $2,500 for Second Harvest Japan, the main food bank of the country that has been feeding people in the areas worst hit by the terrible earthquake and tsunami of March 11th.
Well, I am very glad to inform all of you that we not only managed to reach the $2,500 mark, but we more than TRIPLED it! We managed to raise $8,269 that will be donated to Second Harvest Japan. I want to thank ALL the bloggers (more than 90!) that so generously donated their fantastic goodies (and time) for this special cause. I am relatively new to this blogging community and I have been overwhelmed by the response of all these great people. You are fantastic! I want to give a special thanks to Sabrina from The Tomato Tart, the charming host of the Bake Sale. Despite some technical difficulties she managed to pull the auction off splendidly. She worked really hard for this and I am very grateful to her for launching and organising this event. THANKS Sabrina! Also, thanks to Angi from Rice and Wheat for coming up with a great “bidding form” which was really helpful!
I also want to thank Andrew Sigal of The Uncarved Block who has offered to match the first $500 of the Bake Sale. It really was a very generous offer! 🙂
And obviously THANKS to all the amazing people who so GENEROUSLY bid for the goodies! It really means a lot!
Also, thank you Second Harvest Japan and to all the people who are helping out over there.
Manu’s Menu will be shipping the Almond Cookies and Martorana to the 2 highest bidders for those items in the next few days. Thanks Tina from Pinay Cooking Corner and thanks Amy! 🙂
If anyone missed out on this opportunity but still wants to help you can still donate for the Bake Sale at Give Forward. And remember that there are many trustworthy non profit organizations that are working in Japan and you can donate some money directly to them. You can find a list and details in my post Japan – How we can help. I also found this great initiative on Facebook: Paper Cranes for Japan. They donate $2 for each paper crane you send them and the goal is to collect 100,000 cranes. Check it out. And if you do not know how to fold a paper crane, here is a wonderful tutorial.
It has been quite a journey… almost a bonding experience that helped me get to know some great people better. I can say I am really happy and proud to be part of such a wonderful and generous community.
As for Japan, we will resume our travel plans soon and hopefully we’ll be going there next spring. To all the Japanese people I say “you do not stand alone”… we are all thinking of you and you have our solidarity and love. <3
THANKS again,
Manu
Wow! Congratulations. I am so impressed by the results of the bake sale. Your hard work really paid off and it was an imaginative way to raise money for a good cause.
Great news!!! I can’t wait to get baking so I can send my cookies off to the lucky winner 🙂
I know… me too!!!! 🙂
Fantastic! It’s awesome that you all raised so much!