For Linkin Park vocalist, aid for Japan is personal

Mike Shinoda saw images of the devastation in Japan and knew he had to do something.

The co-frontman of Linkin Park immediately took to Twitter and asked his fans to brainstorm ideas for a T-shirt to benefit victims of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that has claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people with 17,000 more missing.

Someone suggested an origami crane. Shinoda, a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, thought an origami butterfly would be more appropriate.

"That's more a symbol of rebirth -- you know, the caterpillar turning into the butterfly," he said.

The black and white butterfly tee and a second T-shirt design with the words "Not Alone" emblazoned on the front are available on the group's Music for Relief website (musicforrelief.org), with all proceeds going to benefit Save the Children's relief efforts in Japan.

There's also a Download to Donate initiative, where fans can pledge a minimum of $10 to access a digital album featuring unreleased tracks by a growing number of artists -- including R.E.M., Angels & Airwaves, Sara Bareilles, The Ting Tings, Talib Kweli and Slash. The last track is a Linkin Park instrumental inspired by the tsunami called "Issho Ni."

"Music for Relief is not Linkin Park for Relief," says Shinoda. "Right now, we've got folks on the Board of Music for Relief from MTV, from Fuse, from other bands. We hope that other artists will feel welcome to jump on board and contribute in some way."

Linkin Park founded Music for Relief in 2005 in the aftermath of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean that caused mass destruction and loss of life from Sri Lanka to Indonesia.

"We had just toured in Southeast Asia, and when we got home, we were seeing the images of the devastation on the news -- and these were happening in places we had just visited," Shinoda said. "I think first and foremost, we tend to get involved in endeavors that are closest to our hearts."

Since then, Music for Relief says that it has raised more than $3.9 million for victims of natural disasters around the world, including Hurricane Katrina, wildfires in Southern California and Australia and monsoon flooding in Pakistan. Shinoda says the organization's Download to Donate program for Haiti has raised more than $270,000.

CNN spoke with Shinoda at Music for Relief headquarters in Beverly Hills, California.