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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Haitian Relief (Updated x2)


In light of the recent quake-wrought devastation, we think it might be helpful to pull together a list of relief organizations and charitable groups working to aid the people of Haiti. Our hearts and thoughts go out to those who are suffering in this tumultuous atmosphere, and their friends and family in the US and around the world who are hoping and praying for the safety of their loved ones.  

If any corrections need to be made in the list below, please let us know in the comments. This is a hastily thrown-together list because we’d like to get the info out quickly. Thanks to all Moose who have submitted links and information. If you find anything else, please submit below.  

Cheryl Mills, Counselor and Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, writes:

Reports continue to pour in from all over and we are extending all our thoughts and prayers to those who have been affected.

As Secretary Clinton said earlier, the U.S. government will offer assistance to Haiti and others in the region in the form of civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

For those interested in helping immediately, simply text “HAITI” to “90999” and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

DipNote: U.S. Department of State Official Blog

Big h/t to Shaun for bringing us this info from the Huffington Post:

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that his “thoughts and prayers” were with the people of Haiti. “We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti,” Obama said in a statement. The Obama administration said that the State Department, USAID and the U.S. military were working to coordinate an assessment of the situation and any possible assistance.

The American Red Cross is pledging an initial $200,000 to assist communities impacted by this earthquake. They expect to provide immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support. They are accepting donations through their

International Response Fund.

UNICEF has issued a statement that “Children are always the most vulnerable population in any natural disaster, and UNICEF is there for them.” UNICEF requests donations for relief for children in Haiti via their Haiti Earthquake Fund. You can also call 1-800-4UNICEF.

Operation USA is appealing for donations of funds from the public and corporate donations in bulk of health care materials, water purification supplies and food supplements which it will ship to the region from its base in the Port of Los Angeles. Donate online at www.opusa.org, by phone at 1-800-678-7255 or, by check made out to Operation USA, 3617 Hayden Ave, Suite A, Culver City, CA 90232.

Victoria Fine – Haiti Earthquake Relief: How You Can Help Huffington Post 12 Jan 10

This frequently updated dKos diary by Dallasdoc has compiled an excellent list. Check it regularly for updates. An excerpt from the diary:

Direct Relief International has already sent a 40-foot container of ongoing aid to arrive today (if it can be unloaded.)  As Relief Web states:

Direct Relief’s partners in Haiti include Partners in Health, St. Damian’s Children’s Hospital, the Visitation Hospital, Christian Aid Ministries, and Feed the Children. St. Damian’s and Partners in Health are particularly active in emergency response and have received pre-positioned materials for hurricane season, which ended November 30, and are designed to support ongoing patient care if needed. Since 2000, Direct Relief has provided more than $60 million in medical material aid to Haiti.

Oxfam International provides assistance to victims of emergencies and ongoing disasters throughout the world.  They are mobilizing to provide emergency assistance to victims in Haiti, and your donations will also help people in places like Darfur as well. I haven’t been able to find a link to direct your donation specifically to Haiti on their website. UPDATE:  tbird contributes a direct link to support Oxfam’s Haiti relief effort.

Doctors Without Borders (aka Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) is an international group of medical professionals who work in chronically underserved countries, emergency sites and refugee camps around the world.  

Daily Kos

(H/t to John for pointing out an error in the above: Doctors Without Borders is apparently already on the ground in Haiti and sending additional help.)

Update: Check out Aid Watch (another h/t to John) for more ideas on ways to help.

Master List (Updated)

Update (couple more organizations):

Habitat for Humanity, 800-422-4828

Islamic Relief USA, 888-479-4968

Update (from WaPo):

There are several ways to donate via mobile device:

  • Text the word “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 on behalf of the Yele Haiti Foundation, founded by Haitian musician Wyclef Jean.
  • Text the word “Haiti” to 85944 to donate $5 on behalf of the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International.
  • Text the word “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 on behalf of the Internal Rescue Committee.
  • Text the word “Haiti” to 864833 to donate $5 to United Way Worldwide’s disaster fund.
  • Text the word “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 on behalf of the American Red Cross.
  • Text the word “Haiti” to 45678 (in Canada only) on behalf of the Salvation Army in Canada.

Update: The FBI warns good samaritans to be wary of scam artists looking to turn a buck off of this tragedy.

From MSNBC:

“Past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization or a good cause,” the FBI said, in passing along these tips:

  • Ignore unsolicited e-mails, and do not click on links within those messages.
  • Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as surviving victims or officials asking for donations via e-mail or social networking sites.
  • Be cautious of e-mails that claim to show pictures of the disaster areas in attached files, because the files may contain computer viruses. Open attachments only from know senders.
  • Decline to give personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions.
  • Make contributions directly to known organizations, rather than relying on others who claim in e-mails that they will channel the donation to established groups.

The FBI says anyone receipting an e-mail that appears to be a scam should forward it to this website: Internet Crime Complaint Center.


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 36 Comments

36 comments

  1. Cheryl Kopec

    I heard Samaritan’s Purse also helped fund Sarah Palin’s campaign or something, though….

    Ed Schultz has a smaller list on his website, too. I’m toying with the idea of setting up somewhere in a public place with my laptop and a small sign inviting people to donate on the spot. If they’re uncomfortable typing their info into my computer, there are phone #’s they can call, although that can involve lengthy menus and/or hold times.

  3. John Allen

    Doctors Without Borders (aka Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) is an international group of medical professionals who work in chronically underserved countries, emergency sites and refugee camps around the world.  They have not yet announced plans to go to Haiti, from what I can find, but they certainly will.  With the collapse of the hospital in Port-au-Prince, their help will be especially needed.

    They are already on the ground in Haiti and they are rushing more help there as I type this. I donated on their web site this morning. https://donate.doctorswithoutb…

  4. spacemanspiff

    He’s leading this effort on the U.S. part.

    Hearing him speak is incredible. Leaders lead and he’s on fire right now.

  5. John Allen

    It’s something to keep in mind when deciding on where to donate.

    Go to the actual page to find links in the “Ideas for how to help” section. http://aidwatchers.com/2010/01…

    Haiti Earthquake: Help Navigating Complex Terrain of Disaster Relief

    By Laura Freschi | Published January 13, 2010

    Today our thoughts go out to those who are suffering from the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday, and to all those contributing to relief efforts there.

    An email we received this morning from Saundra Schimmelpfennig, who has experience coordinating tsunami relief in Thailand and writes the blog Good Intentions Are Not Enough, highlights some of the problems that arise in responding to a large scale disaster such as this one:

       

    Immediately after a disaster is prime fundraising time for NGOs. So they all rush in and put out immediate appeals before there’s any clear idea of what or how much they can actually help. Only fund those that already have an office established in country because of the amount of time and money it takes to get anything more than just search and rescue up and running. If you want to move into anything such as temporary shelters, food distribution, those with an already established presence will know the people and systems better and be able to work more quickly and less expensively.

       I prefer for people to try to support small, local CBOs [Community-based organizations] as they are already on the ground responding, and will be helping in the country for a long time.

    Ideas for how to help and where to give:

       * Philanthropy Action Advice for Donors to Haiti

       * Good Intentions Are Not Enough on Suggestions for donors in choosing NGO’s to donate to after a disaster and Donating medicine after disasters

       * Tales from the Hood on What to Do: The Donor Edition- Emergency Response

       * Idealist.org on Disaster Relief Volunteering

       * Chris Blattman suggests Haiti Partners

       * Tyler Cowen and many others recommend Paul Farmer’s organization, Partners in Health

       * GlobalGiving has a list of 20 organizations already working in Haiti and has set up a Relief Fund for Haiti Earthquake

    Getting and sharing information:

       * Ushahidi Crowd-sourcing Disaster Map, News, Photos, Live Reports

       * For real-time news on Twitter: @NYTimes/haiti-earthquake; @BreakingNews/haiti-quake; @nprnews/haiti-earthquake; @latimes/haiti-quake

       * New York Times Gleaning Information from Haiti Online

       * Alertnet Haiti Earthquake Live blog

    First-person accounts and in-depth coverage:

       * Global Voices online

       * The Daily Beast: Haiti in Crisis

    Humanitarian response:

       * NYT: Aid workers scramble amid Haiti’s chaos

       * Christian Science Monitor: Aid workers struggle to provide relief

       * Alertnet Factbox: Aid to Haiti

  6. HappyinVT

    from WSPA:

    Since this morning, we have been in talks with the United Nations (under serious stress themselves since their office in Port-au-Prince has collapsed, with 15 staff members dead and 20 still missing) and the local Red Cross Chapters to gain a further understanding of the impact on animals caught up in the situation.

    Our Disaster Liaison Officer from Panama, Jorge Alcidez Gonzalez who also works as the Head of the K9 unit of Civil Defence, is now travelling out of Panama with a team of specially trained veterinary staff to assess the destruction and welfare needs of the animals. Jorge and his brave team will be treating animals as soon as they are on the ground.

    They have a general donation link but not one for Haiti specifically.

  8. John Allen

    Good Afternoon,

    The reports and images from Haiti of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes, and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching. As we learn more about the extent of the devastation, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti and Haitian Americans around our country who do not yet know the fate of their families and loved ones back home.

    I have directed my Administration to respond with a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States Government in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble and to deliver the humanitarian relief — the food, water and medicine — that Haitians will need in the coming days.

    This is also a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share, and Americans have always responded to these situations with generosity of spirit. If you would like to support the urgent humanitarian effort in Haiti, I encourage you to visit our website where you can learn more about how to contribute:

    http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/Hait…

    Americans trying to locate family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at (888) 407-4747.

    We will continue to stand with the people of Haiti and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

    Sincerely,

    Barack Obama

  9. GMFORD

    It’s on your list.  www.shelterboxusa.org for US donors.  www.shelterbox.org in UK.

    I like the idea of knowing what the donations will purchase.  Also, that the people receiving the Shelter Boxes will have handy items they can keep for future use.

  11. HappyinVT

    U.S. cell phone users have contributed about $4 million to the Red Cross in $10 increments, by far the largest outpouring of support via mobile devices in history.

    Wednesday was the “largest mobile donation event that we have ever seen,” said Jenifer Snyder, executive director of mGive Foundation, the nonprofit group that is working with the Red Cross and wireless carriers to channel the donations.

    To donate to the Red Cross, mobile users are texting the word “Haiti” to the number 90999. Snyder said the money is coming in at a rate of roughly $200,000 an hour.

    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…

  13. HappyinVT

    (no pun intended when appropriate).

    The USCC has a list of corporations and the aid pledged to Haiti.  Some notables:

    Amgen – $2 million

    Bank of America – $1 million; 50% of which directed to the American Red Cross

    Coca-Cola – $1 million to the American Red Cross

    Digicel – $5 million to various NGOs leading relief efforts

    GoDaddy.com – $500,000

    Goldman Sachs – $1 million

    Google – $1 million to UNICEF and CARE

    Jefferies Group – $1 million

    JP Morgan Chase – $1 million

    IBM – $150,000 in technology and technical services

    ITT – $100,000 to Mercy Corps, plus the donation of five water treatment units which will provide water for 100,000 people

    Kraft Foods – $25,000 to the American Red Cross

    Lowe’s Companies Inc. – $1 million to the American Red Cross

    Microsoft – $1.25 million in cash and in-kind donations; employee-donation matching up to $12,000; mobilization of employee response team and technical support of NGOs operating on the ground

    Morgan Stanley – $1 million to the American Red Cross Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund

    Nestle Waters North America – $1 million worth of bottled water

    New York Yankees – $500,000

    PepsiCo Foundation – $1 million; $500,000 divided among the American Red Cross, Save the Children, and Friends of the World Food Program; $500,000 allocated for longer-term rebuilding efforts

    Proctor & Gamble – Sending PUR Purifier of Water devices to Haiti  

    Rogers Communications – $250,000 to Partners in Health

    ScotiaBank – $250,000 to the Canadian Red Cross

    Target – $500,000 to the American Red Cross, plus the donation of more than 1 million meals

    TD Bank – $100,000 to the Red Cross

    UPS – $1 million to the American Red Cross, CARE, UNICEF and others

    Walmart – $500,000 to the American Red Cross; $100,000 worth of donated pre-packaged food kits requested by the Red Cross

    Walmart Canada – $100,000 to Project Haiti Relief

    The Walt Disney Co. – $100,000 to the American Red Cross Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund

    Wells Fargo – $100,000 to the American Red Cross

    Western Union – $250,000 to NGOs including Mercy Corps and Save the Children

    I included those I thought were interesting.  Some companies I’ve never heard of; some I thought were a bit paltry in their donation and some I thought were great.  I’ll let you decide.

  15. HappyinVT

    Asshole Republican one…

    WASHINGTON – The Obama administration said Friday it will allow Haitians who are in the United States illegally to remain because of this week’s catastrophic earthquake.

    Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano granted the temporary protected status on Friday, two days after she temporarily halted deportations of Haitians, even those already in detention. The protection is available only to Haitians already in the country as of last Tuesday, when the quake struck their home island. They will be allowed to stay and work for 18 months.

    Act of compassion

    Napolitano told reporters that the temporary legal status is an act of compassion.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34…

    U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, is speaking out against a plan to grant temporary protective status to an estimated 30,000 Haitians in the country illegally, saying it sounds like the Democrats trying to score political points off a natural disaster.

    snip

    King told ABC News that doing so would create political controvery.

    “This sounds to me like open borders advocates exercising the Rahm Emanuel axiom: ‘Never let a crisis go to waste,'” Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in an e-mail message to ABCNews. “Illegal immigrants from Haiti have no reason to fear deportation, but if they are deported, Haiti is in great need of relief workers, and many of them could be a big help to their fellow Haitians.”

    http://iowaindependent.com/258…

    Sounds to me like Rep. King never let a crisis go that could be politicized.

  16. Cheryl Kopec

    for a relief organization needing French translation services. Yes, I know they speak Haitian Creole there, but it’s so close to French that in a pinch, valuable info could be conveyed. Anyone know of any?

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