Friday
Jan152010
Help for Haiti
Friday, January 15, 2010 at 5:36 PM Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The White House advises:
"You can help immediately by donating to the Red Cross to assist the relief effort. Contribute online to the Red Cross, or donate $10 to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999." Find more ways to help through the Center for International Disaster Information."
Thanks to reader Bea for bringing this to our attention. Update: And thanks to LeahD to pointing us to Mrs. O's PSA, above.
Reader Comments (44)
Thanks for posting this Mrs. T. I have been all over the web, trying to read as much as I can. I donated earlier today...I think the Red Cross is the safest one to give to.
i am from Haiti and deeply appreciate this gesture of support from this site...thank you, merci! Johanne
Thank you so much for posting this information. I am also a Haitian-American who is deeply devastated and wants to help any way I can. This is a wonderful site. Keep up the good work.
I am from Haiti as well and I have been so angry, worried and in tears since yesterday!! I made the mistake of reading that Pat Robertson's thread on the Huffpost and I felt the urge to destroy everything in my apartment. I came to this site to distract me from those urges and reading this thread here just brought me an unexpected, albeit very temporary sense of calm. So, thank you! :(
I assure you, previous poster from Haiti, that Pat Robertson stands very, very VERY alone in his remarks. God bless the Haitian people.
I'm from Haiti and I want to say a personal thank you to you Mrs. T for posting these links. I have been trying desperately for communication with my loved ones back home, but the lines are currently down. Please help us anyway you can the gesture will be much appreciated. The devastation is vast and the lost of lives will be felf for many years to come.
Thank you!
Thank you for posting this Mrs. T. I have been reaching out to all of my Haitian friends and colleagues and they each have relatives missing, including one's mother! I cannot imagine the anguish. I donated to the Red Cross this morning but there are many other reputable organizations. Prayers and assistance are essential.
@Zile: Ma chere, I know how you feel. I didn't sleep last night and have been crying all day. I have family in Port-au-Prince and I'm going out of my mind waiting to find out if they're ok.
Forget Pat Robertson. He's a disgusting human being. A false prophet not worthy of our attention.
Haitians are a resilient, resourceful, proud, hard working, hopeful, loyal and loving people. They need our help - not derision and stupid conspiracy theories.
Please help in any way you can.
Make sure to share the information with everyone you know.
Thank you Mrs. T:
For once I wanted to bring attention to something/someone other than what I normally come here for.
I live in a college community in North Florida and in our church we minister to quite a few college students whose families are from Haiti. They come to our country to improve their life and sometimes go back to make things better at home. I know our students are worried but they must have faith. In moments like these all of us will have our faith tested. We must endure. I have made friends over the years who are also from there. I just heard from a friend of mine who works with women's ministries and I think she told me that there maybe whole churches (people) who have been lost. It is bringing me to tears. I looked at my surroundings today and it seems that most men I have come across didn't care...they just continued on like it was nothing...cold...unfeeling...not moved. Of course we know this is the way of those who have no compassion about the suffering of others. I hope that we will not allow this to be so with each us. Let us all find room in our hearts to help in any way we can to relieve the magnitude of suffering facing the people of Haiti. I don't have much but what I have, that I will share to help another. God bless.
Please note on the Red Cross's website that in order to designate a specific country or region to which your donation should go, you must send the funds by check to the national Red Cross, or to your local chapter. If I'm wrong in this, someone please correct me. Other websites accepting donations include:
Médicins sans frontières which is active in Geveva, Paris, Canada, Austria and
probably Germany:
www.msf.org
www.msf.ch/
www.msf.org/msfinternational/donations
unicefUSA.org
www.whitehouse.gov
and, Yéle Haiti Foundation: www.yele.org
My prayers go out to all my Haitians brothers and sisters in Christ. Truly this is a tragedy that surpasses our understanding. The world will rally to help and comfort you. This is a time of urgency and will require strenth, reliance, courage and honesty by all involved.
I am temporarily unemployed and feel fortunate that I have time to donate. To all my unemployed colleagues, let's donate our time if financial resources not available. It will not only be a distraction of our own situation it is humanitarian.
My heart actually aches for this devastation in Haiti. For the families and friends here and everywhere this must be unimaginable torture. I wholeheartedly believe in The Red Cross and supporting it.They do such good work and anything that you can spare will be appreciated and used for purposes intended. In times like this, we can all see where the minor differences that we have in our daily lives are so insignificant. May God bless and keep us all.
Thank you Mrs. T for your show of support. Teachers who are on this thread - consider organizing clothing and penny drives in your classrooms and TAs.
I just wanted to say that my thoughts are with my internet friends from Haiti and all others who are affected by this. I lived in Miami for several years, I have many Haitian friends, and so I feel a little bit of a connection to the country. I hope that everyone who can help, does.
Zile, marabout40 is right, ignore Pat Robertson and his other hateful and racist radio and television types. They don't represent our country.
It just makes a person cry, watching the coverage of Haiti. They don't deserve another blow like this.
Another organization to consider contributing through:
Doctors without Borders
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/
1-888-392-0392
USA Headquarters
333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10001-5004
Phone: 212-679-6800
Fax: 212-679-7016
They are already present in Haiti, they work with a very low overhead, and they know how to operate in places in chaos.
Also, as someone else pointed out, don't take this as an opportunity to empty your closets of old clothes -- that's not what people need right now.
To All Hatians, My heart goes out to you and your family.
I will continue to pray that you will be able to connect
with your families. May God continue to get you all the
urgent necessities. I felt good seeing those ships set
out on the rescue mission. We are all one race - the
human race in a global village, let us try to reach out
if we can. God be with you.
Zile, Mimi, Marabout and all my Haitian-American friends, May the good Lord be with you and all Haitians in this most difficult time. My office started a fund drive this morning and staff raised over $70,000.00 by close of work. God is good!! And by His grace the rescue and rebuilding will happen swiftly.
May God's mercy be on Haiti and all those who are wondering about their loved ones. Donate to the major aid organizations however small; they need all the help they can get.
Also; you can text "Yele" to 501501 will automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund (created by Haitian music celebrity Wyclef).
"Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean."
I think these text-based donations are an outstanding idea. But, I heard a story on the radio today noting that it typically takes about 90 days for the charity to receive the money. I'm not sure if it will be different in this situation, but if you want to make sure that your donation can be used right away, it might be better to use another method of donation.
Text “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 on behalf of the Yéle Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean.
Text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 on behalf of the US Red Cross.
Text “Haiti” to 85944 to donate $5 on behalf of the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International.
Text “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 on behalf of the International Rescue Committee.
Thank you, Marachne, for posting the info about Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres. I have been supporting this group for years, and they won the Nobel Prize in 1999 for their work. More than 87% of donations go directly to the doctors and staff on the ground. They already have hundreds of people in Haiti and flying in more.
I would also echo the comments about non-cash donations or other items that you might want to send out of the goodness of your heart. Don't. Send money. The aid groups are going to need it desperately for medicine, water, supplies and to pay staff. This is not going to be solved in a few days. Haiti has been devastated.
I gave to the Red Cross and only wish there was more I could do. To all the beautiful people of Haiti and to all those who love them I send my deepest thoughts and best wishes. And Zile, what Pat Robertson said was an insulting and infuriating to those of us who believe in God. I wish people who don't have something positive and loving to say would just zip it. Some people do not have a heart.
Anyone else getting an error message when you try texting "HAITI" to 90999? I keep getting a message that reads that it is no longer a valid short code. Please help.
God Bless our First Lady for making a personal appeal for help to the people of Haiti. IMy eyes teared up just now as I watched Katie Couric hold the hand of a little boy whose leg was broken and whos parents died in the 'quake. (After three days the boy has no leg cast and has received minimal medical attention).
Americans are responding to the tragedy in Haiti and will continue to support these people who have been so devastated. To all of you with relatives and friends who are suffering, please know
that we will pray and support this recovery in many, many ways.
There is hope that as so many nations come together to help these people, some of the mistrust
and bad feelings will disappear and we will be better as a human race for joining together for
this cause.
Do NOT donate to the Yele Haiti Foundation (the Wyclef Jean foundation.) It is an inefficiently run organization with a sketchy record of truly helping Haitians. The state of Florida has sanctioned his foundation on four separate occasions. The biggest beneficiary of the Yele Haiti Foundation appears to be Wyclef Jean and his business partner, not the people of Haiti.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0114102wyclef1.html
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0115102wyclef1.html
If you want your donation to be used properly, donate to a well-established, reputable charity like Doctors Without Borders or the Red Cross.
And here's an article in the Washington Post cautioning the public to be cautious about donating to the Yele Haiti Foundation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011504024.html
Heartfelt thanks to Mrs. O and to all those who have contributed to the relief efforts in Haiti. It is an incredibly traumatic time and we must do what we can to alleviate the suffering.
On a lighter note, tomorrow is Mrs. O's BIRTHDAY. Please send her a warm greeting and a word of thanks for all of the work she's done for children, military families and feeding the homeless this year.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
She has been a tremendous inspiration to so many. And many thanks to Mrs. T for bringing all this enjoyment for her fashion as well. You are a breath of fresh air!
Here is Mrs. O and her birthday cake:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/january-2010-photo-day
I have no Haitian friends and can think of no one that I have met who comes from Haiti BUT when I heard the reports I was deeply saddened. Haiti though is my neighbour as live in the beautiful twin island Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. The past week was extremely busy for me and it was only this morning that I spent some time looking at video after video of the devastation, the grief, the pain, the loss. I am typing and I can't stop crying. I chose Yele to donate because it is one of the trusted sites. I have heard that there are so many sites cropping up in order to capitalise on the pain of the Haitian people. SO BEWARE. Keep them in our prayers and contribute from our hearts.
This PSA has made her more beautiful than any garment she could possibly wear. I did my text, have you?
Thank you, Mrs. T for posting this for us! Mrs. Obama spoke eloquently and looked beautiful!
(please omit my previous post Mrs. T and replace it with this one. Thank you).
I've given to YELE, and feel safe doing so. Seems to me that the Red Cross also had questionable practices in the past. I also gave to the Red Cross through my job and will continue to give to both organizations.
My folks are Jamaican although I was born here in the UK. My heart truly goes out to Haitans both on the island and abroad, there is a only a little bit of water that seperates Jamaica and Haiti so I feel for them as my neighbour. I have been weeping non stop since this tragic news broke and then to hear of the orphans wandering around Port au Prince looking for their mothers....... Gosh !! I would adopt one of those little cherubs in a heartbeat.
Another excellent charity is Partners in Health:(PIH)
.http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti
They have been in Haiti for 20 years and have built their hospitals with solar power so they don't have to depend on a grid or fuel. The majority of workers are Haitian born, doctors, nurses, and ancillary help.
I respect this organization because they are forward thinking and utiflize the Haitian population as their workers. Their director Physician is on the ground after flying in from Rhwanda. They were short of doctors but have flown in 30 phsicians, operating room nurses and trama nurses to assist them in these crucial hours. Some of their hospitals are still standing and they have been working on the ground since day 1.
This is a wonderful organization. Thank you Mrs T for allowing us to use this site to dissiminate information and God bless all Haitians and may the Holy Spirit give them strength to weather this storm.
Another excellent charity is Partners in Health:(PIH)
http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti
They have been in Haiti for 20 years and have built their hospitals with solar power so they don't have to depend on a grid or fuel. The majority of workers are Haitian born, doctors, nurses, and ancillary help.
I respect this organization because they are forward thinking and utiflize the Haitian population as their workers. Their director Physician is on the ground after flying in from Rhwanda. They were short of doctors but have flown in 30 phsicians, operating room nurses and trama nurses to assist them in these crucial hours. Some of their hospitals are still standing and they have been working on the ground since day 1.
This is a wonderful organization. Thank you Mrs T for allowing us to use this site to dissiminate information and God bless all Haitians and may the Holy Spirit give them strength to weather this storm.
Happy Birthday Mrs. O!!!
Mrs. T, there is some new pics on getty from Mrs. O surprise party tonight. I'd love to know who that ensemble is by!
Back to Mrs. O's birthday. Yahoo has pictures of Mrs. O exiting a restaurant in Washington
after a surprise birthday dinner,. It looks like a cute coat that she choose for her birthday
dinner.
What a tragedy this has been.
My very best wishes to all Haitians. Blessings.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR 1ST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!