Apple accepts iTunes donations, AT&T offers free calls to Japan in wake of disaster
Apple is accepting Red Cross donations through iTunes, and customers of the AT&T network in the U.S. can call or text Japan for free until the end of March, following the deadly earthquake and tsunami that have caused major destruction and a still unknown number of casualties.
Apple began supporting relief efforts over the weekend, with a link to donate on the iTunes Store. Using an iTunes account, users can donate in amounts of $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 and $200.
One-hundred percent of contributions will go to the American Red Cross. Apple will not share personal information with the Red Cross, so the organization will be unable to further acknowledge any donations.
Donations will be acknowledged with an e-mail from the iTunes Store, and the transaction will show up on a credit card as an iTunes Store purchase. iTunes Store credit cannot be used to make a donation.
Apple employed the same service in 2010, following a devastating series of earthquakes in Haiti.
Joining Apple in supporting the nation of Japan after last week's massive earthquake and tsunami is AT&T, one of two carriers of the iPhone in the U.S. AT&T announced on Monday that calls and texts to Japan will be free until the end of March.
The support will extend into last week, effective March 11, and runs through March 31, in an effort to help those who may be trying to reach loved ones from over the Pacific. AT&T wireless postpaid customers will not be charged for international long distance from the U.S. and Puerto Rico to Japan, or text messages to Japan from a U.S. wireless number.
In addition, residential wireline customers can seek credits for up to 60 minutes of direct-dial calling to Japan. Both wireline and wireless customers will either see no charges reflected on their monthly statement, or they will have a full credit applied.
"We want to help our customers connect with loved ones in Japan in anyway we can," said Mark Collins, senior vice president, Voice and Data Products, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Connecting with family and friends is most important at times like this- we want to make it as easy and worry free as possible for our customers."
AT&T wireless customers can also text "redcross" to the number 90999 to give a $10 donation to the Red Cross with no text message fees. Customers of AT&T's U-Verse TV will also have free access through March 17 to "TV Japan," the 24-hour Japanese news channel.
Apple began supporting relief efforts over the weekend, with a link to donate on the iTunes Store. Using an iTunes account, users can donate in amounts of $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 and $200.
One-hundred percent of contributions will go to the American Red Cross. Apple will not share personal information with the Red Cross, so the organization will be unable to further acknowledge any donations.
Donations will be acknowledged with an e-mail from the iTunes Store, and the transaction will show up on a credit card as an iTunes Store purchase. iTunes Store credit cannot be used to make a donation.
Apple employed the same service in 2010, following a devastating series of earthquakes in Haiti.
Joining Apple in supporting the nation of Japan after last week's massive earthquake and tsunami is AT&T, one of two carriers of the iPhone in the U.S. AT&T announced on Monday that calls and texts to Japan will be free until the end of March.
The support will extend into last week, effective March 11, and runs through March 31, in an effort to help those who may be trying to reach loved ones from over the Pacific. AT&T wireless postpaid customers will not be charged for international long distance from the U.S. and Puerto Rico to Japan, or text messages to Japan from a U.S. wireless number.
In addition, residential wireline customers can seek credits for up to 60 minutes of direct-dial calling to Japan. Both wireline and wireless customers will either see no charges reflected on their monthly statement, or they will have a full credit applied.
"We want to help our customers connect with loved ones in Japan in anyway we can," said Mark Collins, senior vice president, Voice and Data Products, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Connecting with family and friends is most important at times like this- we want to make it as easy and worry free as possible for our customers."
AT&T wireless customers can also text "redcross" to the number 90999 to give a $10 donation to the Red Cross with no text message fees. Customers of AT&T's U-Verse TV will also have free access through March 17 to "TV Japan," the 24-hour Japanese news channel.
Comments
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
So what? That doesn't mean that people here can't help them. If you don't want to donate, then don't.
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
Your a ass dude!
thousands of people die and you say some crap like that?
funny how insensitive we are as humans when things don't directly affect us.
your a perfect example of all that is wrong in the world today
kick rocks foker!
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
I hope our giving is never determined by what we can 'get out' or 'have gotten' from a country in the past but rather our love and respect for others, especially in a time of crisis.
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
Hey! ass face... Japan was one of the first countries to step up to the plate during the Katrina disaster.
Hopefully you feel like an idiot now.
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
I do. And so does the US government:
"Japan has pledged more than $1.5 million in private donations. The government of Japan has donated $200,000 in cash to the American Red Cross and some $800,000 in relief supplies -- from blankets to generators -- already are arriving to aid the most needy. Japanese firms with operations in the United States have donated some $12 million in total, including Honda Motor Corporation ($5 million), Hitachi ($1 million) and Nissan (more than $750,000).
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo was overwhelmed by the generosity of one Japanese individual -- Takashi Endo -- who donated $1 million from his personal funds to Katrina relief efforts. Endo said he was moved when, during a business trip to London, he saw a televised report about a mother separated from her children in the chaos of the flooding in New Orleans. The story so disturbed him he could not sleep that night; the next morning he resolved to do something to help.
Yuji Takahashi, president and chief executive officer of the Japan Petroleum Exploration Company Ltd., which has operations off the coast of Louisiana, donated $100,000 to U.S. federal government hurricane relief efforts. Takahashi said that when he learned of the destruction caused by the hurricane, he felt as if his own family had been affected..."
-- http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-e...68313e-02.html
You, sir, are not cold-hearted. You are simply an ass.
very glad to see this -- anything that makes it easier for people to help is a very good thing, as i see it. it would be great if donations could be made on an i-device...
my thoughts are with the japanese people.
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
What an appallingly bad statement to make. Since when is humanitarian aid contingent on someone else doing for you first? We are one of if not THE richest countries on earth, with an infrastructure (if managed properly) that is up to handling all but the most devastating catastrophe. If we can't serve our own then shame on us. But to require tit for tat from a country in their time of need shows a degree of callouse ingratitude and fundamental lack of concern for your fellow humans that is beyond the pale.
May you be paid in kind in your hour of darkest need. And yet someone with greater compassion than you will likely come to your aid just the same. I hope you have the consistency of character to turn away their offers of help.
Every day is a gift!~
Surely you can find qualified people to run the Red Cross on a charity budget. Money you donate is paying those salaries. I doubt the high salary is greatly increasing revenue for the Red Cross.
T o compare charities Doctors without Borders spends 1.8 percent of its annual money on administrative expenses (e.g. salary) whereas Red Cross spends 4.8 percent. A good Site to look at various Charities for independent ratings is charitynavigator.com.
I don't like the way Red Cross handles donations. So I won't be using iTunes. Apple, please give us options in the future.
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
Whether you have a point or not, your comment is cold hearted and uncalled for.
Pardon me for sounding cold hearted here; please take the following into account.
Now who remembers Japan sending aid money to the USA when Katrina hit and killed people and destroyed billions of dollars of property?
Japan sent $250,000 in earthquake relief funds to San Francisco -- in 1906.
http://mceer.buffalo.edu/1906_Earthq...uake-facts.asp