Haiti Earthquake Relief
Sosúa, Dominican Republic (Tuesday, January 12) -- I was on the balcony, three floors up, when suddenly I felt a powerful urge to throw up. Then my chair began to sway. When I looked across the alley and saw the laundry lines in full swing, I knew we were in trouble.
As we all fled out into the street, the air of general panic was palpable. Over the next few hours, via spotty cell phone connections, those of us huddled together in the street, half a mile from the beach, realized that the entire island had shaken. Tsunami warnings were issued for Hispaniola and Cuba.
As time passed, power was restored, and news crept in, we realized that Port-au-Prince had borne the brunt of the earthquake. The significant Haitian population in Sosúa took to weeping openly in the streets, though in the scramble to pack and gas up vehicles for a possible sprint inland, none of us yet knew how bad things really were.
Tuesday night passed in a slow haze of fatigue and disbelief. One of the lucky ones by far, I got out the next morning, leaving Santiago airport as originally planned. It wasn't until the plane landed in Miami Wednesday afternoon that I saw televised footage of the immediate aftermath in Port-au-Prince.
Back in Seattle, it was heartening to see Amazon making it easy for customers to donate directly to Mercy Corp, and I was lucky to attend a Thursday-night fundraiser at Waid's, a great local Haitian joint.
Musicians, of course, have been quick to lend their voices to the call for mass generosity in service of the nascent relief efforts. In a written public statement, Maxwell made an important point: "[S]ending cash is the best way to help right now. The easiest way to do it is through text messaging, but other ways to help include donating to organizations such as the Clinton foundation, Unicef, [and] Red Cross ... There are links to those charities here: http://www.musze.com/."
Wyclef Jean's Yéle Haiti Foundation moved with laudable speed, offering regular updates on its own efforts, three ways to donate--the easiest is to text "YELE" to 501501 (a $5 donation)--and beneficiary status for a series of emergency benefit concerts featuring Patti Smith, Living Colour, and many more at Manhattan's City Winery (January 20-25).
I recommend Catholic Relief Services, and here's why.
However you can, please give.
--Jason Kirk
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property on January 29, 2010 at 01:20 AM
It's good to help other people.
queen b's mamma on January 19, 2010 at 06:47 AM
local ways to contribute and meet some people
http://www.tastyfeast.com/
queen b's mamma on January 18, 2010 at 01:07 PM
Here is a great org. to donate to. we have partnered w/ them for a monthly sponsorship of a young girl for the past 3 years.
http://www.sos-usa.org/Pages/default.aspx