Heartache for Haiti

Posted by meli on Friday, January 15, 2010 | No comments

I may not be religious, but that doesn't mean I don't pray ...

There aren't many words to express the heartache I feel for the people of Haiti. I've sat down to blog about it several times, but nothing comes out.

No words, just action...

We light candles, say a few prayers, and talk deeply about what we can do to help the people of Haiti and all of the rescues teams that are out there trying to save lives.

The kids decided they want to send all of their charity money, and most of their spend money to the relief efforts in Haiti. So proud of my sweeties!
You see, they get an allowance each week. They keep 50% of their earning as their "spend money", 25% goes into their savings jars, and the other 25% goes into a joint Charity jar (you can see it in the photo below). Nick and I match whatever amount the kids have put into the charity jar, and we pick one charity or organization to give the money to.



It was an easy choice who to help out this time ...
(though we didn't just pick one organization to help, nor did we just double the money int he charity jar)

We took part in the digital fundraising for the Red Cross by texting 90999 to HAITI The response has been unbelievable! As of Friday morning the tally had reached 8 million dollars!!! Read the article.

We donated to UNICEF, whose focus is children! They've been on the ground in Haiti since 1949, and although their compound in Haiti was affected by the earthquake, they have decided to absorb all administrative costs... meaning 100% of each donation will be used in the Haiti relief effort. Amazing!

We donated to CARE, who have more then 50 yrs experience in Haiti, and already have 133 emergency personnel on the ground distributing food, water, and supplies to families.

We also gave to the Humane Society International for their help with disaster relief for animals. Though they have no teams on the ground yet, and no concrete plan of exactly how to best allocate their resources to this cause, they are evaluating the situation to see what can be done to help the animals of Haiti. They are running into "roadblocks" as there are no animal welfare groups, animal shelters, or veterinary schools anywhere in the country ... making rescue planning and efforts complicated. There are so few options when it comes to emergency relief for animals affected by disaster, and we definitely wanted to help support an organization that does just that, so although there isn't yet an immediate relief response happening in Haiti, and despite my unhappiness with the Humane Society as a whole (the Michael Vick thing), we still decided to support their efforts. However, if anyone knows of any reputable organization, focused on animals, that may be doing more in Haiti right now, please let me know!

Now it's your turn ... do what you can to help, every bit counts!



first photo used in my 365days photo challenge