[Community] Help Haiti Now

[Kaelon]

Seven days ago, a massive 7.1 earthquake struck a few miles away from Port-au-Prince, the capital of grief-stricken Haiti. Hundreds of thousands are feared dead, the entire capital city is in ruins, and Haiti has been destroyed. Since that terrible tragedy and yesterday's recurring 6-level tremor, so many of you have been sharing the generous and loving spirit that all Aelyrians share in common and asking for us to coordinate a way to get relief to the people of Haiti. After some research, I have decided to link prominently to the Network for Good, which offers a one-stop portal for reputable charities that are dealing with the crisis in Haiti.

There are very few places in our world that suffer as much as Haiti; as the poorest country in the western hemisphere who has seen civil war, dictatorship, famine, and extreme poverty, the current earthquake has killed more than an estimated 200,000 people and threatens to plunge this tiny country of eight million souls into plague and terrible despair. Of all the cases on the planet crying out for the compassion of humanity, Haiti's touches us with the strongest voice.

Currently, the United States is leading the humanitarian rescue mission. The U.S. Army was invited by the Haitian Government to occupy the airport and the ruined Presidential Palace and to direct the global relief effort. I am very proud of the American military's courageous and selfless mission, but it is only a beginning. Your support and help can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people still trapped under the rubble with just days left to live.

Accordingly, I am linking the "Help Haiti Now" banner across the top of our page for the next few weeks. When you do choose to help, please be informed and research the charities carefully. The Network for Good lists charities that are reputable and dealing with the crisis in Haiti - such as the Red Cross and the United Nations. If you choose to donate, be sure to flag your donation specifically for the Haiti Earthquake relief to ensure it immediately gets to the victims in need.

My thoughts and prayers have been with the people of Haiti and all those with family and loved ones on the island of Hispanola. I know that we as Aelyrians have already begun to rally around the people affected by this epic disaster, and that you will join me with your deepest sympathies, sincerest condolences, and resounding commitment to do what you can to help.

Juan

[Ragman]

I've already made a donation to 'Doctors Without Borders' a few days back and I urge everyone to do the same! Every bit of donation helps and who knows, your donation may just change someone's life forever.

[Ensnare]

Thanks so much for doing this, Juan!

[Xeres Lyonythas]

Indeed, thanks for this Juan Let's show that Aelyria Cares!

[Triel Xythan'tor]

As that link seems to mostly be good for americans... here's is one for some english players...

DEC

The donate link actually lets people from ALL countries donate, but the currency is only displayed in pounds sterling... so ber careful if you're not from england and decide to use that site to donate.

I'll be sending some money when I get paid on Monday.

[Luminor]

Easy ways to donate money to a variety of organizations. These campaigns are being supported by the White House and the Government of Canada. So they are quit legit. The Red Cross has raised like 45million or something like that just from the 90999 number. It's billed directly to your mobile phone bill. It's easy, it's quick, it's cheap.

Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross

Text HAITI to 25383 to donate $5 to International Rescue Committee
Text HAITI to 45678 to donate $5 to the Salvation Army in Canada
Text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to The United Way
Text CERF to 90999 to donate $5 to The United Nations Foundation
Text DISASTER to 90999 to donate $10 to Compassion International

[Kaelon]

Thanks, Everyone!

@Neil - Great find on DEC. I was really trying to find a single one-stop portal for global reputable agencies, but one does not seem to exist. The Network for Good though does list global relief agencies, it just has a payment portal in U.S. Dollars. International users wanting to use the Network for Good can access the individual agencies (such as Doctors Without Borders) and donate directly to them. Just make sure that donations are flagged for the "Haiti Earthquake Relief".

@Luminor -- A very good find, and definitely legit and supported. However -- this is important -- it can take up to sixty days for texted mobile phone donations to reach the agencies to which you are donating. By then, it may be too late to have an impact on the Haiti Earthquake Relief operations going on right now -- the critical ones to save lives. Texting is a great option for general donations, but if you want to have an immediate impact, direct donations to the organizations themselves is a way to make sure they get the money now.

There are significant aftershock earthquakes still taking place throughout the Caribbean Plate - ranging from 4 to 6 on the Richter Scale - including a powerful aftershock that struck the village of Petit-Goâve (one of the oldest in the Americas) this morning, collapsing seven buildings and trapping new people. These aftershocks are likely to persist for the next few weeks and even months as the Caribbean Plate settles into its new position.

Thanks again, everyone!

Juan

[Kour'el Kha'Serith]

Actually in the case of the text message donations, at least in Canada, the companies are waiving the usual time it takes for things to be accounted for and Telus for example have already sent more than like six million according to a CBC radio report I listened to the other day, the other major mobile companies like Bell, Shaw and Rogers have done similiar things to their own programs. I don't know what it's like across the border in America land, but the texting donation in Canada is a legit way of making sure your donations get there now.

EDIT: I did some research on the American companies regarding the texting to see if there was a delay still in place and found these two quotes from different news papers, the first an actual article, the second from the supposed editor of the article. So please don't discount texting as being useless for 'immediate impact'.

Wireless companies are responding to the unprecedented number of text message donations by expediting them to ensure they reach their destination much faster than usual, according to the New York Times' Bits blog. Typically it can take weeks, even months, for such donations to reach the intended aid organization, as CNN noted today. But as a Verizon spokesman told the Times:

"We are bypassing our normal financing accounting and checks and balances. We're doing it because the humanitarian need is immediate."

Verizon says it has so far transmitted $3 million in aid to the American Red Cross; Sprint reported having transmitted $1.2 million to a variety of charities.

CNN was talking about this, and one thing they mentioned is that Red Cross has stated that because they know in a few months that millions of dollars will be available to them that they can release more money now. So yes, while it's great to donate directly using check/credit card, texting money isn't useless for immediate help.

[josephus]

count me in for this one...just let me know what i can do to help people whos helping haiti also