Help For Haiti

Erin (and sometimes The Todd) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:40:12 +0000

I’ve been absolutely thrilled and touched with the outpouring of response from my fellow budget bloggers regarding the crisis in Haiti–so many of these women have come up with creative and hopeful ways to offer financial and spiritual support. Most seem to follow along the lines of donating for each comment they receive. I will tell you that The Todd and I have already donated to the Red Cross. If you missed my earlier post, you can simply text “Haiti” to 90999…you will receive a text back asking you to approve the charges…$10.00 will be sent to the State Department’s designated charity, the Red Cross. You can also donate at www.redcross.org.

Our experiences in radio and working with disaster relief experts has taught us some important lessons, I’m hoping you might find them helpful, too.

1. The days for canned food drives are over. The disaster relief groups already on the ground can spend your donation and get triple the value in food, medicine, cleaning supplies, etc. because of their connections. Any food or clothing donations cost more to ship than they’re worth.

2. Don’t under-estimate the power of prayer. Or…lighting a candle…or meditating…or song…whatever you do to offer spiritual hope and comfort to those suffering.

3. Learn about what you can do after the immediate crisis. FEMA executives have told us that the real hope for places like these come after the crisis is past. Those who developed an interest, read about the region, learned about local charities–these are the people who make the difference in long-term recovery.

The Todd and I are fortunate to know the Aitkens, an amazing family from Utah who built an orphanage in Haiti and are awaiting word of the three beautiful little ones they’re adopting from there. They were nearly finished with the paperwork and were going to bring them home in March. Can you imagine? So, our passion will be the long-term recovery of Hope For Little Angels of Haiti. In a couple of months we’ll be holding a fundraiser to rebuild the orphanage and we’ll be going over with the Aikens to work on helping in the recovery of a beautiful culture. I hope that you will find a project there that inspires your passion as well. I’ll pass along information about Hope For Little Angels of Haiti as we begin our work–maybe you’d like to be involved!

Love and gratitude to everyone who’s opening their hearts this week!

Help For Those In Haiti

Erin (and sometimes The Todd) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:21:19 +0000

We’ve all been heartsick as we watched the video stream of despair and destruction come post-earthquake from Haiti yesterday. Everyone wants to help–but after we spoke to the Director of International Relief from the Red Cross today, he emphasised that financial donations are the most useful thing. There’s already several fraudulent “charity” appeals running. The one text option that I can clarify as legitimate is the State Department’s appeal to text “Haiti” to 90999. This will bill $10.00 to your account, you will be texted back to ask if you agree, and the money will go directly to the Red Cross relief efforts. You can also donate online at www.redcross.org I’ll be lighting a candle for these amazing and courageous people tonight…we hope you’ll send love and good wishes in whatever way you choose.

Todd and Erin "That Went Well..." » Red Cross

Help For Haiti

Help For Those In Haiti