How to help

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, thinking about the mothers in Haiti sitting there lying there pinned there in the dark. Listening to their children cry, not being able to get to them to comfort them. Or, if they were lucky enough not to be trapped, holding their children until daylight came and they could figure out what to do. Not crying, because women don't cry if it will scare our children. Singing, probably, to keep away the fear, and maybe praying, too.

The easiest way to help is to text the word YELE to 501501 and a US$5 donation will be made to Yele Haiti, Wyclef Jean's foundation, with the money billed to your next mobile phone bill. (Thanks, Cedrick.)

You can also donate through the Red Cross, either at redcross.org or by texting the word HAITI to 90999 to have a US$10 donation made to the Red Cross International Relief Fund. (Thanks, Chris, for the texting tip.)

You can also donate through the Mercy Corps: https://donate.mercycorps.org/donation.htm?DonorIntent=Haiti+Earthquake

Could those of you outside the US leave links in the comments for relief orgs in your country that are taking donations for Haiti relief? Thanks.

I'm thinking ahead to what happens in a week or two, and the survivors are probably going to need clothes. So the kids and I will go through our closets this weekend and get some warm-weather clothes in good condition ready to give when we're asked.

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me. "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day especially in times of "disaster", I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers--so many caring people in this world." -- Mister Rogers

Comments

[Mary-Christine]

Here's the Canadian Red Cross link...
http://www.redcross.ca/helpnow
Just copy & paste into your browser.

[Bethany]

Two more ways to help:

https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/haiti_earthquake

http://www.habitat.org/newsroom/2010archive/01_13_2010_Haiti_Earthquake.aspx

[Cathy]

Here's a link for Doctors without Borders - it has US and International ways to donate.

https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=197&hbc=1&source=ADR1001E1D01

[Katherine]

I'll be donating to the Red Cross today.

If you're so inclined, please pray as well. I have friends who are in the process of adopting a little girl from Haiti. She's still in Haiti and I don't think they've been able to find out if she's safe yet. Please pray for little Francesca.

[Sky]

UK links

To give to the Red Cross Haiti appeal visit www.redcross.org.uk/haitiearthquake or call 08450 535353

To donate through Christian Aid go to www.christianaid.org.uk/haiti-appeal

To give to the Oxfam appeal call 0300 200 1999, visit www.oxfam.org.uk or call in at a
local Oxfam shop

To contribute to CARE International UK's appeal go to www.careinternational.org.uk

[Huslage]

We have set up a website to catalog a list of links to aid groups. If you are able, please check out http://www.welovehaiti.org and send your links to donate@welovehaiti.org.

[Sharon @proactiveparenting]

Way to go Moxie. I will be sending people from my show on momtv this morning over here to get links. Thanks so much for posting this.

[Jac]

Thanks for this post Moxie - your first paragraph broke my heart and moved me to donate - I also posted it on our company's intranet with a link to the red cross donation site.

[Bella]

Here's the link for Plan Canada (what used to be the Foster Parent Plan). They've had links and helped in the Haitian communities for over 40 years now, so they're poised to make some real differences, with a focus on children's welfare.

https://plancanada.ca/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=1347&srctid=1&erid=2385632

[lauracamacho]

Here's an amazing charity group that friends of mine work with. One hundred percent of your donation goes to help the orphans they care for. After this earthquake, there are going to be so many more babes without mommies and daddies. :(

http://theglobalorphanproject.org/

[Alice]

Mister Rogers was a wise man. And thanks Moxie for giving me a way to feel like I'm doing something, anything.

[Ally]

Great post by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot) on Doctors Without Boarders and donating to help Haiti:

http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2010/01/13/the_knitsignal.html

[Steph]

Thank you for doing my thinking ahead for me--I just cleaned out my closet of 4 bags full of sweaters.

"Look for the helpers", I will remember that, I'm sure the days of shielding my almost 5 year old from the tragedies of our days are numbered.

Thanks you,
Steph

[Jen]

Unicef: https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=6680&6680.donation=form1

There's also a great post here with many more links in the comments, including some for Canada: http://www.whatisleft.org/lookie_here/2010/01/six-ways-you-can-help-in-haiti.html

[Kathy B.]

ELCA Disaster relief -- 100% of your contribution goes to relief.

http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Responding-to-the-World/Disaster-Response/Ongoing-Responses/Haiti-Earthquake.aspx

[Leili]

Thanks for this, Magda (did we meet at BMC? Your name sounds so familiar). Your post inspired me today, via Luann. I'll be blogging this as well.

[Lioness]

I found this: http://www.whatisleft.org/lookie_here/2010/01/six-ways-you-can-help-in-haiti.html

There are more options in the comments. It's all breaking my heart, Haiti was so poor and struggling so much already.

[Lioness]

Oh sorry, I did skim but missed Jen's link, which is the same as mine - anyway, the comments bit still stands.

[LK]

Another UK option is the Disasters Emergency Committee:

www.dec.org.uk

[Lee]

I'm so glad that the 2nd comment up above (from Bethany) mentioned Partners in Health.

It's leader, Dr. Paul Farmer, is an amazing individual. The work they've been doing in Haiti was chronicled in the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains" - a must-read.

[MLB]

I would like to strongly encourage Doctors without Borders donations (I have no affiliation with the group). They have extremely low overhead and already have a very effective program setup in Haiti. It's important in times like these to try to donate to organizations that already have a presence, such as DWB or Wyclef Jean's or the Red Cross because it is more effective and efficient.

[sheilainatlanta]

I would like to recommend a lesser known organization - but one with whom I have worked extensively. They are called St Boniface Haiti Foundation www.haitihealth.org. They are a grassroots public health (and many other types of projects, such as schools and clean water) organization working a very poor rural & inaccessible region southwest of PaP, also hit very hard by the earthquake. They have close ties with and assist lots of other grassroots Haitian-operated groups. They would be a great choice if you are thinking of donating to something more toward the long-term redevelopment of Haiti.

[Alison]

Can I also suggest that people consider setting up regular monthly donations? It is great when people respond with generosiry to this kind of disaster - but also so helpful to charities to have a reliable monthly income from donors. In the UK at least it also makes it easier for them to reap the full benefits of tax advantages. It can be a small monthly sum but still help to make a big difference.

[Jennifer]

Thanks so much - I provided a link to your post on my blog so I can do my tiny part to spread the word.
http://brutalandhonest.blogspot.com/2010/01/haiti-earthquake-how-to-help.html

I also posted it on facebook and sent it via e-mail to everyone at work.

If all your readers would do something similar, you could really make an impact. Thanks again for taking the time to do this.

[LJP]

Sorry if this is a repeat, I'm responding quickly..

Among other efforts, the Canadian Government is matching all donations made to eligible registered charities (Canadian Red Cross being one) made between now and February 14, so this is a great time to donate what you can to these organizations. More at www.cbc.ca.

[eccentriclibertarian]

Just sent $5 via Yele...so simple, and that $5, which is pretty much nothing to us, will go far in helping those suffering in Haiti.

One Haitian man I heard interviewed on Monday said "Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere - we're just trying to move up from misery to poverty" - and he was talking about the way things were before the earthquake.

[monkeymama]

Just heard something on the radio that donations sent by text message might not get to the recipient right away, depending on the cell company's policies (might actually want the bill paid first?!). So as brilliant as I think this new trick is, it may be better to stick to the old-fashioned ways of donating, at least when the need is so dire and immediate. Thanks for the post, Moxie!

[Laurel]

I also donated to Doctors without Borders (and instead of a late Christmas present, my sister donated to them in my name, which was awesome). Heifer International is also taking donations as they have families there they have helped who now have nothing, again.

[parisienne mais presque]

A few French and/or international charities that are doing relief work in Haiti and accepting donations in France:

Action contre la Faim: http://www.actioncontrelafaim.org/urgence_haiti/
They've been very present in Haiti for some time, and are redoubling efforts to provide food and clean water.

The Red Cross (of course): http://www.croix-rouge.fr/

Médecins sans frontières (Doctors without borders): http://www.msf.fr/index.html

[jingle]

amazing post. :)

[Susan]

I just read this piece (http://tinyurl.com/yl54ug9) on why donations to Yele might not be the best place to send money right now--aside from some issues about Yele's financial management practices (according to the article), there's also the point that Yele is a very small organization that is not already in the business of disaster relief. Donations to Partners in Health, Médecins sans frontières (Doctors without borders), or one of the other organizations that already has a significant presence on the ground are more likely to be quickly effective. I'd actually never heard of Yele before the earthquake, and I don't mean to suggest that it doesn't do good work, and isn't currently working with good intentions. But some of these other organizations might be better positioned to act quickly. Something to think about, anyway.

[Chrystal]

What an excellent quote from Mr. Rogers' mom! Thank you for sharing it with us.

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