ITMS/Red Cross Haiti Relief
By Barry Ritholtz - January 16th, 2010, 5:49AM
On Thursday, we reviewed the many ways to Send Aid to Haiti.
In addition to traditional donations, you can also use your cell phone to send money:
-To donate $10 to the American Red Cross, text Haiti to 90999. The amount will be added to your next phone bill. (You can always donate to the International Response Fund, www.redcross.org).
I did this, and was impressed how the Red Cross gives you the option to cancel every step of the way (they are a 1st class outfit).
There is another one more way to help: Apple Computer and the Red Cross will let you donate to Haiti right through the iTunes Music Store:
Help Haiti earthquake victims by making a donation to the American Red Cross.
click the graphic below to go to the ITMS donation page
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January 16th, 2010 at 6:14 am
I never point this out to discourage people from making donations, but at one point there will be tons of money for “Relief”, and what Haiti will need is Sustainability, As Habitat for Humanity says; the will need a hand up, not a hand out.
Water, Power, Roads… etc But most importantly EDUCATION, Not that Haitians are stupid, but everybody can use more Education, and that is the road out of poverty.
In addition to donating to the Red Cross, please think about other programs. Things like Ben Stiller’s http://www.stillerstrong.org/ And other programs Trying to provide a sustainable education and reconstruction programs in Haiti.
Keep it in mind. We have a tenancy to treat the symptoms and not the Illness.
January 16th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Also remember that most large companies will match a portion if not all of your gift to charities.
January 16th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Eric Davis Says:
January 16th, 2010 at 6:14 am
Thanks for the post. My wife did the Red Cross txt message thing this morning and BR is absolutely correct on their first class approach. Further I intend to give a much larger donation to Doctors without Borders.
But the long-term solution lies in the education, reconstruction, infrastructure and civil institution development of Haiti. I have been looking for an organization such as http://www.stillerstrong.org/ that pursues these objectives. (Plus I see that I can get a really cool headband after I donate!!!)
January 16th, 2010 at 11:41 am
i worked very closely with the red cross in responding to the 9/11 attacks. as much as they were (and still are) the 800 pound gorilla in their space, they were as dysfunctional and inept in responding to such an event as everyone else. they learned much through that time and have definitely cleaned up their procedures and information sharing so i would agree with BR here.
January 16th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Looks like Wyclef Jean’s charity, the Yele Haiti Foundation, is basically a scam:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0114102wyclef1.html
January 16th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I pulled Wyclef from the earlier post . . .
January 16th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Red Cross is a reasonably good outfit. However, when on the first day of the calamity they announced that
“surplus funds generated will go to the next disaster ” my money went to MERCY CORPS
January 16th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
For those with a bad taste re: Am Red Cross, Charity Navigator rates Americares and Int’l Relief Teams very highly, among others. Both are small orgs with minimal administrative costs (I can’t stomach big salaries for those who run charities).
January 16th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
BR will probably not let this go through, but in reference to Franklin411′s earlier post, please read the article below and ask yourselves, How many Haitians will die from a lack of water before all of the various layers of US/UN/Haitian governmental bureaucracies do their thing?
This is not a left/right issue. It happened with Katrina and it is happening again with Haiti. Governmental Agencies are risk adverse (to being criticized and to taking actions that risk their bosses being criticized). They are cautious to an extreme even when times call for immediate action. It is just the way it is.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/supplies-arriving-haitians-remain-helpless/story?id=9575634
January 16th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
I don’t know if this is appropriate here. Maybe it is because it will let people know what the corps. will and will not be doing thus helping you target your support there as well
Confusion Over Marketers’ Haiti Relief Donations Goes Viral
January 16th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Re:bsneath January 16th, 2010 at 2:00 pm and the lack of distribution
Folks, take this as a stern lesson for yourself and your families. BE PREPARED! Assume that if you end up in a disaster it may take authorities three to four days to reach you and your family. This means you should have a large enough supply of food ,water, medicines and emergency supplies to cover you for at least that while the big machine of government gets rolling. It could mean your life
It never hurts to build up a supply of bottled water and canned goods and rotate them out every once in a while. I usually buy a case of canned food and then donate it to the food bank before it expires and get another one. Also, getting to know your neighbors and maybe having a neighborhood action plan would also be a good idea. Especially if disaster strikes when you’re at work and the family is at home and you can’t reach them. Them knowing someone close who they can gather with will add to their safety
January 17th, 2010 at 7:17 am
One thing that makes me very sad is that so many people who were there to help Haiti, have perished or have not been found yet.
From my place, Quebec, there’s Tran Trieu Quan mandated by the Haitian government and the World Bank to review the building norms and provide new construction codes, he’s not found yet.
Denis Bellavance, teacher, was there to give conferences about data processing management (informatique) to university students, he perished.
Anne Chabot and Anne Labelle, from the Quebec government, arrived only two hours before the quake, registered at Hotel Montana, but apparently were gone at a meeting somewhere in the city, no news from them yet. They were there to give webmaster courses to civil servants.
Many more not found yet from many countries, all part of a very special elite helping underdeveloped countries to attain better levels of living.
January 17th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Definitely a cruel irony Louis
January 17th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Quotes of the day:
Clinton, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti “reminds us of our common humanity. It reminds us of needs that go beyond fleeting disagreements.” He said political debate is healthy in normal times, but it would be perverse in a time of disaster to let politics get in the way of helping.
“You’ve got people who are … children who’ve lost parents. People wondering where they’re going to be able to drink water,” Bush said. “There’s a great sense of desperation. And so my attention is on trying to help people deal with the desperation.” Bush said that he doesn’t know what critics are talking about when they claim Obama is trying to score political points with a broad response to Haiti’s woes.
It has been extremely disheartening to read the callous remarks that can be found on some of the conservative web sites.
January 17th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Hero of the day:
“Earthquake victims, writhing in pain and grasping at life, watched doctors and nurses walk away from a field hospital Friday night after a Belgian medical team evacuated the area, saying it was concerned about security. The decision left CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta as the only doctor at the hospital to get the patients through the night.”
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/16/haiti.abandoned.patients/index.html