Helping out Haiti

[Falx]

I hope this is ok.

Here's a list of reputable places to send any cash donations to help out the people of Haiti and the various aid organizations trying to rebuild their shattered country.

*Save the Children: Donate at savethechildren.org or make checks out to "Save the Children" and mail to: Save the Children Income Processing Department, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, Conn. 06880
*UNICEF: Go online to unicefusa.org/haitiquake or call (800) 4UNICEF.
*Red Cross: Go online to redcross.org and click Donate, or call (800) REDCROSS. You can also text "HAITI" to 90999; it will donate $10 to a Red Cross Haiti fund.
*Direct Relief International: Donate online at directrelief.org.
*Mercy Corp: Go online to mercycorps.org or mail checks to Haiti Earthquake Fund, Dept. NR, PO Box 2669, Portland, Ore. 97208 or call (888) 256-1900
*Wyclef Jean: He's Haitian-born and has set up the YELE Movement; text "YELE" to 501501 to donate $5 to Jean's Haiti fund. If I heard him right, he's on the ground now.

Obviously these are only U.S. based chairities so far... if you have any other links to trusted organizations please add them here.

[EricTheFred]

Four highly reputable faith-based relief services are:
Catholic Relief Services
Lutheran World Relief
United Methodist Committee On Relief - Note that these folks were already in Haiti thanks to last years four tropical storms, and they have people missing as a result of the quake, so give them your prayers as well.
Episcopal Relief & Development

I am by no means meaning to imply that others are not reputable, only that these have good reputations as assessed by independent agencies who audit such organizations.

[ADXC]

Oddly(I say oddly because it's really good timing, not that I am happy about what happened. Certainly not.) enough, my college, on MLK day, is packaging food for Haiti for Kids Against Hunger.

[Roy Mustang]

I gave some money today at Dominican University for the relief fund for Haiti.

I'm glad that it was the University that was doing this relief fund and not having Red Cross at the school.


[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Tsukuyomi]

The news coverage in Haiti was so heartbreaking T__T

We're going to go and see if they're taking donations somewhere uptown/down ^^

[That Dude]

The most heartbreaking thing that I find about it is that it takes an earthquake to get the worlds attention...If I remember correctly it was in the 10 worst nations in the world...The life expectancy was 30 even before the earthquake.

The thing that I'm ashamed of is that it took an earthquake to remind me to pray for that country.

[EricTheFred]

The most heartbreaking thing that I find about it is that it takes an earthquake to get the worlds attention...If I remember correctly it was in the 10 worst nations in the world...The life expectancy was 30 even before the earthquake.

The thing that I'm ashamed of is that it took an earthquake to remind me to pray for that country.

Yes. It's a little chilling to hear about disaster relief workers who are missing or dead, because they were still present and giving aid to victims of the last disaster, added to the UN workers lost who were part of a peace-keeping mission still active because of the political situation, added to the possibility of large numbers of AIDS and Tuberculosis patients who may die because the hospitals that were treating them are now out of commission. It seems very much like Haiti is suffering an extra helping of every challenge facing any third-world nation anywhere.

It just doesn't seem possible for such a situation to be happening in a country which is, frankly, one of the USA's closest neighbors. It may not be right next door like Canada or Mexico, but it is easily less than a thousand miles.

[That Dude]

The thing that is scary is that the nation literally has dedicated itself to Satan. That's scarier than anything else that is going on. Thank god for missionaries who go there. (Which on a side note I just reunited with an old missionary lady to Haiti who used to be my sunday school teacher back in the day.)

[Arya Raiin]

The most heartbreaking thing that I find about it is that it takes an earthquake to get the worlds attention...If I remember correctly it was in the 10 worst nations in the world...The life expectancy was 30 even before the earthquake.

The thing that I'm ashamed of is that it took an earthquake to remind me to pray for that country.

I know, I feel bad too, and even worse is that my goal is to become a missionary. T_T

[EricTheFred]

The thing that is scary is that the nation literally has dedicated itself to Satan. That's scarier than anything else that is going on. Thank god for missionaries who go there. (Which on a side note I just reunited with an old missionary lady to Haiti who used to be my sunday school teacher back in the day.)

For the record, Haiti's majority religion is Roman Catholicism, not Satanism or Voodoo or whatever else one may call it. Let's please not perpetuate this myth while these people are suffering.

[shooraijin]

Thank you, exactly what I was going to say. Also, just as a preemptive move, discussing Pat Robertson's comment is totally off-limits. (Seriously.)

There is also some news circulating that Wyclef Jean's organization may not be reliable (enough). As a former attendee of the Salvation Army, I add them to the list.

[Warrior4Christ]

It's a bit terrible, but I only just heard of the earthquake today...

Compassion International is another faith-based charity that I think is worthy.
100% of the Haiti response funds go to helping those in need (0% administration).
http://www.compassion.com/

[That Dude]

Sorry for the above post about the voodoo. I shouldn't have brought it up here.

[Sheenar]

To check whether a charity is trustworthy, there is a website called Charity Navigator that is a great resource.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/

My cousin is on staff with a ministry called Hope for the Hungry. She, along with several other staff members, are leaving on Wednesday of next week to fly to Haiti to help with the relief efforts. Please be in prayer for them and for the other volunteers as well as for the people of Haiti.

[rocklobster]

Here's a link to Samaritan's purse: click here. They're doing some good work in Haiti too.

[Slater]

Haiti's gonna be needing more support and prayer now... They were rocked by a 6.1-magnitude earthquake a little while ago.

[ShiroiHikari]

Another one? That's just terrible.

[Tsukuyomi]

I'll be praying 8(

[uc pseudonym]

Many good organizations have already been listed, but hopefully one more will not be a waste. Immediate relief is a matter of life and death, of course, but there will still be a need after the public eye has moved on. If some of you still have not decided where to give your funds, consider a longer-term option:

http://mcc.org/haitiearthquake

In addition to immediate aid, they will have workers in Haiti for decades to come. As tragic as natural disasters can be, it is a grim truth that they are often made worse by poverty. This is especially true in this case, since many of the deaths were caused by substandard concrete housing. General development and improved infrastructure will improve the lives of many and hopefully limit suffering if something like this happens again.

[Technomancer]

An interesting news story from a few days ago:

http://www.thespec.com/article/709098