Yesterday's earthquake in Haiti has been devastating, possibly the worst natural disaster since the Indonesian tsunami. We all need to help. If you are not sure just how, read A Donor's Guide to Global Emergencies where there are many links to news sources and charitable guides.
To respond to the Haitian crisis as quickly as possible, take one or more of these actions:
- Text a donation to the Red Cross. Text "Haiti" to 90999 from your mobile phone to donate $10 to their relief efforts. You will get a text back that says: "To confirm your $10 donation to Red Cross Int'l Response Fund reply with YES." You can also donate at AmericanRedCross.org.
- Donate to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
- Make an online donation to CARE. CARE is deploying emergency team members in order to distribute and/or deliver food, hygiene kits, water, and emergency health services.
You can learn more about donating at Top Three Do's and Don'ts for Helping Haiti.
In addition, many of my blogging friends have put together lists of organizations where you can help effectively and quickly. Check out these suggestions:
- Haiti Earthquake - Ways to Help, by the CASE Foundation.
- Haiti: Earthquake Relief and Information, at Philantopic, the Philanthropy News Digest blog.
- How to Help Haitian Earthquake Survivors, at Britt Bravo's blog, Have Fun, Do Good.
- Hanging with Haiti, at Doc Searls Weblog.
- Tragedy in Haiti - How Can I Help?, at Connection Cafe, a blog by Convio.
Photo by Gregor Avril/Getty Images News
Comments
I would just like to draw your attention to the use of international shipping containers as housing.
They are sitting around US ports unused. They can be shipped anywhere without special equipment. They can be lifted with cranes, etc.
Some websites that provide further info include the “PFNC Global Communities” homepage and the “Welcome to Container City” article at WiseBread.com.
The “containerbay” section at FabPrefab.com showcases a number of different possible designs as well as links to additional resources.
I wanted to donate $30 to the Red Cross via text messaging, but after the second $10 donation, I got a message that I “have reached the max donation limit of 2 times on Haiti Relief.” I guess it’s good that they’re preventing fraud, but now I wish I’d just made a contribution by credit card.
ADRA is also a responsible and upstanding charitable organization: https://secure2.convio.net/ccadra/site/Donation2?df_id=2328&2328.donation=form1
ADRA is also an established and reputable non-profit charitable relief organization. Google ADRA.
I wish that mailing addresses for these charities would be published somewhere. Some people do not have computers and would like to mail their contributions to these various charities, not necessarily the Red Cross.
I would like to know which organization is helping the animals. There hasn’t been anything mentioned and I’m sure it’s a need.
List of organizations helping Haiti at http://givemn.razoo.com/ they also process the credit card and aborb the transaction fees, so the non-profit recieves 100% of your donation.
It’s so tragic when things like this happen and they can never be planned, but you can always be prepared by having a
survival kit
handy. I’ve recently been looking for them to send as donations for the people in Haiti and the best ones on the market are available at http://www.moreprepared.com
God Bless all that suffered in this disaster.