Using the social networking power of Datepad and its growing family of members, this article is about the Haitian disaster and where donations can be made.
Please look into this official CNN site http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/ which houses a legitimate listing of all organizations including those from the UK, France, New Zealand, Italy and Germany to name just a few.
They also detail what areas the charities are concentrating on like basic needs, shelter, medical provisions and food. The BBC News has this site specifically for the UK: http://www.dec.org.uk/.
Well known actor and director George Clooney will be staging a telethon called Hope for Haiti to raise funds for earthquake relief efforts. His connections will bring in some high A-listers. Scheduled for Friday, January 22, it will be aired on all MTV Networks which include VH1, Comedy Central and CMT as well as the usual heavy hitters: ABC, NBC, HBO and CNN.
Just this past Friday, hit songwriter and singer Lady Ga-Ga performed on Oprah, where the two discussed what will happen that Friday. That people from The Oprah Winfrey Show will leave the studio and carry on their lives going grocery shopping or do whatever they do on the weekend. But it pales in comparison to the hardened lives of the Haitians who have to endure many daily challenges presented on news programs worldwide.
Lady Ga-Ga (we love this gal!) is marking January 24th as her day to help. Proceeds from all merchandise purchased on ladygaga.com on this date will go directly to Haitian earthquake relief. For those attending the Monster Ball in New York that night, proceeds from all ticket sales and merchandise sold will also be donated to the cause. http://www.ladygaga.com/news/default.aspx
One of the most touching real life stories that Anderson Cooper’s 360 CNN Reports covered was on the efforts to rescue an 11 year old girl who had been pinned underneath slabs of cement. Eventually she was loosened free with a car part. But with no real hospital nearby, she was to travel 3.5 hours away to an actual hospital instead of staying at the first aid station. She died one hour after her initial rescue. Her uncle spoke to CNN saying that her last words were: "Mother, don't let me die." That is the reality of the suffering with days having passed since Tuesday’s earthquake, a week into the disaster.
We urge you to donate and to do so responsibly. Not everyone taking donations for Haiti is legit.
Please don’t donate to emails seeking you out. Don’t donate to door to door salespeople or so-called representatives of legit organizations. They are not canvassing to the public this way. If you donate online, go to legit websites directly and not through indirect links.
Like the tsunami of 2004, the world just doesn’t feel right with a part of us hurting. With massive graves holding nameless bodies, it is estimated that upwards of 200,000 people are dead from Haiti's most devastating earthquake in 200 years and one of the worst natural disasters that the UN has had to deal with. January 12, 2010 is a date we will remember.
