I've Donated, Now What?
It's so easy to open up our pocketbooks in this time of crisis for the victims of the Haiti earthquake, but as a friend recently mentioned "so totally preoccupied by the news from Haiti, and the people I know who have personal connections there. After you donate, then what to do?"
Do you have any suggestions on what we can do? For one, we can frequent the many awesome local businesses that are organizing to donate more money. Thanks, Milagros, for putting the list together.
Have you SMSed a donation? The following organizations are accepting SMS donations in the US only:
- Text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts
- Text “YELE” to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts
- Text "GIVE10" to 20222 to donate $10 to Direct Relief
I heard on npr yesterday that there is some question about Yele Haiti's finances, so it might be wise to avoid giving them more money at this point, until the questions are resolved. With the scale of this disaster, it's important to think about the ability of the organization to handle the funding coming at them. I don't know if they have a texting option, but Partners in Health is a group that is already in Haiti, and works to build local capacity, which is important.
Posted by: Christine | January 17, 2010 at 11:03 AM
Metro Parent has set up a Mercy Corps fundraising page for Haiti - we will match all donations up to $1,000 ($2,000 total).
If you've already given money, please consider giving a little more. Thank you!
Here's the link:
http://www.mercycorps.org/fundraising/metroparent0
Posted by: Marie | January 17, 2010 at 11:47 AM
You can set up your own Mercy Corps fundraising page at http://www.mercycorps.org. I did it and have raised about $1200 so far. My goal is $1500.
Posted by: Jennifer | January 17, 2010 at 12:37 PM
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/1-million-in-donations-for-haiti-via-text-message/
Text message donations take up to 90 days to be released to the organizations, then longer for that organization to be able to put the money to use.
The best organizations to donate to for immediate help and relief for the people in Haiti are those which already have groups active in the country like "Haiti like Partners in Health" www.pih.org or "Doctors Without Borders" www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Please consider sending money to organizations like these rather than donating through text, it is nearly as easy to do online and will be much more effective at providing much needed relief.
Posted by: BK | January 17, 2010 at 01:32 PM
Also New Seasons is apparently accepting donations at the registers for Haiti through Mercy Corp, and will match up to $10,000.
Posted by: BK | January 17, 2010 at 01:33 PM
Calling all lactating mamas! It looks like you can donate breast milk for Haiti quake victims http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january152010/breastmilk.php
Posted by: urbanMamas | January 17, 2010 at 08:35 PM
There was an interesting discussion among these lactivists at Mothering about the feasibility of breast milk donations actually making it to Haiti. http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1184264
I totally respect the Adventist breastfeeding support team and I'd be interested to hear more from them about how feasible this is.
Posted by: anon | January 17, 2010 at 11:02 PM
My son and I donated today to the container that will be shipped to Haiti on Wednesday. Not a long term solution, but it was nice to do something...
Portlander's can bring any of the following items for the relief container:
1. Plastic Sheeting/Tarps/Duct Tape
2. Baby Formula
3. Peanut Butter
4. Bandaids and First Aid materials, Bandages and Over the Counter Medications like Tylenol, Alieve, Excedrin, Eye drops, Anti fungal-Anti Bacterial Cream Etc. Dental Hygene
5. Light weight clothing (new & or gently used)
6. Sport sandals
7. Hygiene items
8. Sanitary Wipes
The red 40 foot container will be located at the Portland Foursquare Church parking lot at SE 13 & SE Ankeny until Wednesday at 6:00
Posted by: Leah | January 18, 2010 at 05:21 PM
I have set up a Fundraising Event on my Barefoot Books homepage, and I plan to donate 100% of my proceeds from this event to Unicef. Their focus on children feels like a very natural connection to our focus on children at Barefoot...
To support this effort, visit my website at http://leahnoreng.barefootbooks.com and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the event titled "Support the Children of Haiti!" Click the "Support this Event" button and start shopping. As a side note, Barefoot is running it's annual Winter Sale through 31 January, so this could be seen as a great opportunity to stock up on gifts for the year and shop for a great cause at the same time. I will keep this event open as long as orders continue to come in.
Posted by: Leah | January 19, 2010 at 02:45 PM
I know it may be controversial, but I mean no harm when I say I think we must also remember our neighbors, or local agencies who help people who are also suffering, lacking shelter, food, or medical services, and who are also in pain.
Posted by: anon | January 19, 2010 at 07:07 PM
UrbanMamas & Anon -- It is not yet clear if and/or when donor breastmilk might be available to the earthquake victims in Haiti. You can read the official statement from the Human Milk Banking Association of North America on our website: http://www.nwmmb.org
All of the milk banks in the US are facing critical shortages of donor milk and are in need of donations to help vulnerable and sick infants here. We encourage interested moms to contact one of our 3 local drop-off sites in order to become a donor: http://www.nwmmb.org/donate-breast-milk
We are not yet a functioning milk bank but you can find more information on our efforts to build a milk bank in Portland on our website. Thanks!
Scotti Weintraub
Secretary/Treasurer
Northwest Mothers Milk Bank
http://www.nwmmb.org
Posted by: Scotti | January 19, 2010 at 07:25 PM
We recently received word from an urbanPapa, who writes of his effort to raise funds specifically for orphanages in Haiti:
"My name is Bill Pierznik. I am an attorney here in Portland but I also run Mangrove Fund http://www.mangrovefund.org which focuses exclusively on Haiti. Obviously we are in high gear given the catastrophic events that are occurring just a few hundred miles from the United States.
We have also adopted a 4 year old from Haiti. His name is Richelor. He was at an orphanage until we brought him to the United States at Christmas 2009. Most of his friends are still at the orphanage – it is called BRESMA. The orphanage consists of 3 buildings (and like so many others), they are virtually destroyed. The 150 kids at those places are now sleeping outside. They range ages 3 months to 9 years old and we discovered tonight that they have about 24 hours of food and water left.
On Wednesday morning, Richelor (who attends Class Academy in NW Portland) asked me if he could help “fix the things that are broken in Haiti and help my friends”. So today we started a coin drive at his school. Attached is a photo of him holding the coin jar. Just today he collected well over $100. This was covered by KOIN6 news, NewsChannel 8 and the Oregonian today. Here are a couple of links about these efforts:
http://www.koinlocal6.com/content/mediacenter/default.aspx?videoId=14466@koin.dayport.com&navCatId=156
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/portland-area_groups_scramble.html
We are going to take all of his money and run it through Mangrove Fund (our charity) and send it to the orphanages in Haiti.
It got me thinking that this can be replicated. What if we had all of the schools in Portland have a coin bucket to collect coins for the kids in Haiti? Can we do this?"
Interested in helping? See http://www.coinsforhaiti.org for more info.
Posted by: urbanMamas | January 19, 2010 at 08:25 PM
Here is information about how to assemble and mail relief supplies (basic health kits with things like soap, towels and bandages) through the United Methodist Committee on Relief, which has a well-established presence in Haiti: http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/health-kit/.
Posted by: Tia | January 20, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Just yesterday (1/25/10), the Human Milk Banking Association of N. America, in conjunction with an number of other breastfeeding organizations announced a call for human milk donors. Milk will be sent to babies from Haiti being cared for aboard the Navy's hospital ship, the Comfort.
Interested donors are urged to contact an existing milk bank. You can find information and a link to the press release - on our website. Local Portland moms can drop off at three local sites. Those outside the area can contact the California or Colorado milk banks directly: http://www.nwmmb.org/donate-breast-milk.html
Thanks!
NW Mothers Milk Bank
www.nwmmb.org
Posted by: Scotti | January 26, 2010 at 01:39 PM
Regarding breastmilk donations and Haiti, people had better read this article first.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35134523/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/#storyContinued
quote:
" “Tell them not to send it,” said Eric Porterfield, a spokesman for the American Red Cross. “I’m 100 percent sure we didn’t ask for that.”
The international Emergency Nutrition Network has asked one group, the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, to retract a press release this week that issued an “urgent call” for breast milk for orphaned and premature infants in Haiti, saying the donations contradict best practices for babies in emergencies."
Posted by: anon | January 29, 2010 at 09:52 AM
And regarding the ship "The Comfort,"
quote:
"But the staff on the U.S. Navy ship said they haven't used the milk out of concerns raised by OFDA and other agencies. Mothers aboard the Comfort are urged to nurse their own babies and there’s infant formula available to children whose mothers cannot or will not breast-feed, said Lt. David Shark, a U.S. Navy spokesman."
Posted by: anon | January 29, 2010 at 12:43 PM