Where to donate
Today on the news, we tuned in just in time to hear about the bodies of two Pilipino aid workers recovered from the rubble of the UN offices in Haiti. Let us all offer our prayers for the repose of their souls, and for strength for their families in their time of bereavement…
I have not yet been able to make a donation. I initially wanted to donate through the Episcopal Relief and Development website, as suggested by my mother. After all, it made sense to donate through the Church. But as I was trying it out, the website won’t accept non-US addresses, or perhaps I just haven’t found a way to do so. If you live in the US, do checkout the ERD website and learn how you can donate through them.
At work, I happened to have pulled up Bing.Com and needed to run a search on something, when right there at the bottom of the page I saw this link:
Clicking on How you can help Haiti has brought me to two different pages so far, one is this, and here’s the other. Both pages give you a list of charities where you can donate. Microsoft isn’t accepting donations, but they have already made their pledge of support for the recovery efforts and rebuilding of life in Haiti. They have also committed to matching the donations made by their US employees to their choice of charities (upto $12,000 per employee). I think corporate giants should take a clue from this…
There is no hurry in making a donation. I bet even just blogging about the various channels through which people can help is already a good move. The people of Haiti will need our help for many many months to come.
Save the Children also has this donation page up for their own Haiti fund. I have worked with Save the Children (their UK-Philippines office specifically) and I trust in this charity. Like ER-D, they are already there on the ground so you can be assured that your donations will make it to the intended recipients.
The above links will direct you to many other donation pages, such as UNICEF’s and the Red Cross, go through their lists and find the charity that your heart is comfortable working with.
For digital scrapbookers, here’s an additional incentive to make a donation. The Daily Digi has a freebie for those who will email them that they have made a contribution to a charity of their own choice. Now I don’t see that they’re asking for any proof of donation, but I hope that no one will abuse this. It’s a wonderful idea though.
Here’s a blogger who is running a contest on blog and tied it in with making donations for Haiti via UNICEF. Scoot over to Cornyman’s Money-Blog where each comment he would match with 10 cents in donation to UNICEF.
Here’s yet another blogger who would donate $1 to God’s Littlest Angels, an orphanage in Haiti, for every blogger or reader who comments about what they have done to donate for the relief efforts. Check out Cents Saved.
Eco Mama also runs a similar comments challenge over at her blog. This is specifically for those who have no means to donate, you simply have to leave a comment on her specific Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Relief post and she will match a dollar for each comment and make the donation through Mercy Corps.
So no matter how much you part with, it will count towards helping out the people of Haiti. Recently, my country was devastated by two typhoons and we relied on the world community for aid. Neighbors didn’t fail each other, and strangers were transformed into angels. For others, there is still much help needed. There are families still living in evacuation areas almost three months after the disaster. We know all too well that it will be the same for Haiti.
Oh, and today is our tenth anniversary. ?