FREEPORT, Maine (AP) — Outdoor retailer L.L. Bean is donating $250,000 to the American Red Cross to support relief operations in Japan.

Chris McCormick, Bean’s president and CEO, says the donation to the Red Cross was the quickest way to get assistance to the people of Japan, who’re recovering from an earthquake and tsunami.

L.L. Bean says it has 20 stores in Japan; five of them suffered minor damage from last week’s earthquake. All L.L. Bean workers have been accounted for.