My heart goes out to the people in Haiti affected by the earthquake, as well as their friends and family. Reader Allison Morris reached out with a way of helping out: as the New York Times mentioned, Doctors Without Borders is already on the ground and providing medical assistance to the people there. Particularly with so many medical facilities damaged, their help is badly needed. If you’d like to donate to Doctors Without Borders, you can do so here, and you can keep up with their progress here.
UPDATE: Another way to donate via Other Lisa: “Text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to @RedCross relief efforts in #Haiti. It is *that* simple. Learn more here.”
Checked out the links, thanx. I have a girlfriend who works as a social worker for the red cross division. She says the trauma is stunning in these situations. Shell-shocked doesn't begin to describe it. Such a tragedy.
Thanks Nathan. I'll post a link to this organization along with some others on my blog.
My thoughts are with those affected by the devastation and those who are giving their time so selflessly. Thanks for the links, Nathan.
Donating right now – thanks Nathan.
Thank you Nathan, for this info. My thoughts and prayers go out to these people.
Doctors without Borders is a great organization.
This is another fast way to donate:
Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to @RedCross relief efforts in #Haiti. It is *that* simple. Learn more: http://bit.ly/6KiRtE
Oops. Sorry about the previous malfunction.
Thank you for the link, Nathan. My heart goes out to the victims and their families and friends.
Thank you, Nathan, for posting about this horrific crisis.
"Haiti has moved to center of the world's thoughts and the world's compassion," –British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
One of my pen pals lives in Port-au-Prince, I contacted her to see if she and her family are alright. No response yet. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected by the earthquake!
That poor country. So poor…so destitute…and now this.
Here in Knoxville, Tennessee, college students are burning mattresses and lining the streets with crude protests regarding Lane Kiffen and his resignation from University of Tennessee Football.
People need to get their priorities straight and use their energies for things that matter.
I'm so sorry. It's a terrible fact that the poor suffer the most from disasters like this. I can only hope that the attention to the country will bring much needed relief.
My thoughts and heart goes to those who are suffering, and those who have lost loved ones.
Okay, donated and just put a link up to Doctors without Borders on one of my blogs. Even those of us that don't have the number of blog followers Nathan does (which would be all of us) can make a difference by reaching out to our groups.
@Anarchist – I hope your friend is okay.
Thank you, Nathan, for posting this.
Nathan,
It's wonderful that your Blog today covers the horrible tragedy in Haiti and Doctors Without Borders which is a wonderful organization. My husband and I decided last night after watching the news to donate money to a relief organization helping people in Haiti, and are in the process of deciding which organization. It’s tragic that the hospital has collapsed in Port-au-Prince, so there is no medical help without outside intervention. Thought you might like to know that it was mentioned on the news last night that, if you donate $10 by text message to the Red Cross, $5 will be charged to your cell phone.
Already donated this morning, and I encourage others to do the same. MSNBC dot com has a list of all the organizations on the ground in Haiti with links and phone numbers for anyone interested.
Thanks, Nathan, for making today's post about helping Haiti.
Marilyn, are you sure about the $5? I double-checked the White House info and they don't mention this.
In any case, I put up a post as well. It's easy to do, and maybe it will help a little.
I just donated by text and it only mentioned that standard text messaging rates apply.
Other Lisa,
I wondered the same thing about where the $5 comes from, but haven't had a chance to check it out yet. My husband and I definitely want our donation to go directly to helping the people of Haiti, and we're going to make a decision about which organization to donate to in the next hour or so. Watching the news now. By the way, I've been meaning to mention to you that I deeply admire you for your constant social consciousness, definitely reflected in your tweets on Twitter.
Thanks Marilyn, but I really don't deserve it. What I do is easy. I've always felt like kind of a slacker in the "doing something really meaningful" area.
But I'm glad you appreciate the information. It motivates me to keep doing it.
Volunteering with Red Cross is a great way to get active in your community and feel like you're helping out too. Red Cross has a Personal Disaster Assistant program with a list of volunteers and staff that are on call in most citys 24/7 in the event of a disaster, big or small.
Thanks for this info.
Thank you, Nathan.
Thank you also to the other readers. I'm often amazed at how much this blog feels like a community and how much good it is capable of creating.
Other Lisa,
I could be completely wrong about the $5 charge for texting a donation to Red Cross. It was mentioned in the wee hours of the morning on the news, when organizations were in the process of putting out information. On Google this morning, a $5 cell phone charge is showing up primarily as a direct donation to another organization mentioned on the same news show, but the charge is simply for the $5 donation that will show up on your cell phone bill.
Good post. I mentioned another relief fund on my blog, and then tweeted and facebooked a few more. These people already have it bad enough without earthquakes. This is totally devastating.
I'll post and tweet this one now.
My uncle is one of the doctors who goes to help with the program. I just got off the phone with my Mom and she is going to head over to help as well. She'll find out tomorrow when she'll leave.
Already donated to Doctors Without Borders today and praying like crazy for Haiti, and wishing I could actually be on the ground to help out. Thanks for the links, Nathan.
Here's a list of many charitable organizations active in Haiti right now:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34835478/ns/world_news-americas/?gt1=43001
Thank you for posting this. I think it is a wonderful way to spread the word that there are ways to help and to show your own support for people in need. Especially the many people left behind in the wake of the Haiti earthquake.
Sincerely,
Emma
Glad you posted this, will be making a post to spread the word and giving a donation, too. It's great to see so many people want to help.
Just posted a blog too, hoping it will spread the word to my family that checks it. I hope your post will also be able to inspire others to l=post blogs about Haiti and ways they can reach out to those in need so that the word can get spread even farther. Thank you again!
Thank you for making it so easy to help.
Thanks for posting this- I was just wondering which organization would be the best to donate to. Doctors Without Borders is a great one.
I have been on ten emergency missions with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and can assure your readers there can be no better agency for immediate medical assistance in this desperate situation.
Thank you for posting about this and making it easy to donate, whatever we can.
Such a terrible tragedy.
Thankyou for the link to MSF Nathan. They have long been my heroes, crazy terrifying heroes!! Without whom the horrors and tragedies from Gaza to Congo would be even less bearable.
I blogged about the same thing today. We have a friend that is in the middle of an adoption of a little girl in Haiti.
Thank you for the links, Nathan.
My heart reaches out to the people of Haiti and to their family and friends.
Thanks so much. I have been looking for the best place to donate. Want to make sure my money reaches the people of Haiti and does not go into organization overhead.
Someone on Twitter suggested Salvation Army, so I am going to research that as well.
Thanks. Donated and posted on my Facebook page.
I sent my text to the Red Cross about 10 minutes ago. I wonder, did anybody else get any kind of confirmation message in return?
I'd just like to know that my donation was actually accepted.
How wonderful that a group like Doctors Without Borders exists. I'd not heard of them before. Thank you Nathan for alerting us to this terrible tragedy and what can be done.
It's a horrific situation. Thank you for getting out the word to so many people. Our local Red Cross was crowded with people donating when I stopped after work today.
Thanks for the links, Nathan. I've got Doctors Without Borders already pulled up to donate to. They're such an amazing group, and they need support at times like this more than anything.
I've been following the news since yesterday and looking at the images, and I just have a feeling that once we have more information, we're going to discover this is on an even more massive scale than what we already know. I prayers are with everyone there.
Nathan – Thank you for posting the link to the New York Times article. Earlier today, I donated to Doctors Without Borders. Tonight, I sat down to read the article and look at the photos. Wow, absolutely heartbreaking.
M Clement Hall – It’s wonderful that you’ve been on missions with Doctors Without Borders and are able to let us know how good they are. I saw a TV show about the organization a while back and was incredibly impressed by what they do. How wonderful that you’ve worked with them!
J.J. Bennett – How wonderful that your uncle’s a doctor working with Doctors Without Borders and that your Mom’s heading over to Haiti to help out.
Warmed my heart to discover real heroes right here on Nathan’s Blog!
Right now, all donations to Doctors Without Borders are going directly to their relief effort in Haiti: information here.
CARE is another good organization that has been working in Haiti for years and has people on the ground there dealing with the crisis. see http://www.care.org for updates and ways to help.
Very moving article about tragedy and the incredible human spirit demonstrated in Haiti: here.
Had heard about sending donations via text but wasn't sure if it was ligit. Now I know. Many thanks for posting this, Nathan!
The Ellen Degeneres Show homepage has a list of charities people can donate to:
http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2010/01/haiti-earthquake-0113.php
I love Doctors Without Borders and donate every year. I went to their Haiti link yesterday and donated. It's great that you are listing the link as well!
Wyclef Jean was also suggesting text 501501 and type YELE to donate $5. It's so easy to participate. One latte eschewed. Maybe one person saved. How can we not do something?
Nathan, thank you for remembering Haiti and reminding us how we can be help. My heart and prayers go out to them and their families.
Another very worthy organization, also already on the ground in Haiti and working there for decades, is Dr. Paul Farmer's Partners in Health, chronicled in Pulitzer-winner Tracy Kidder's bestselling book, _Mountains Beyond Mountains_. If you read the book, you'll know just how vital Partners in Health is to Haiti. http://www.pih.org is the site to donate. Tracy Kidder commented on Haiti's history and on PIH's unique position to help in the New York Times yesterday http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/opinion/14kidder.html
oops. The Tracy Kidder nyt op-ed address didn't come through in my previous comment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/opinion/14kidder.html
My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. Every time I see pictures and video of the tragedy, I can't help but shed tears for them.
Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for posting this, Nathan. Doctors Without Borders is a great organization and I'm going to post the link for them on my blog as well.
This is as bad as the 2004 tsunami…just heartbreaking.
Thanks!