Have you donated to help Haiti yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We gave to Red Cross and Doctors w/o Borders. My company matched my donation which was an added bonus! May give again to Partners in Health.

Exactly what are you trying to imply? Your donations only make me feel bad about myself, and my feelings are way more important Haiti. What makes them so important all of the sudden? I'd appreciate it if you could not spread your positive energy around, because it irritates those of us who have none.

LOL!

[Anonymous]

Before I had kids, yeah, of course it broke my heart to hear stories of mothers and children in these crisis situations - during Katrina, for example. But now that I have a toddler and an infant, I just ache for those people. I get choked up just thinking about what they must be going through. The idea of my baby's face, asking me for something to eat... I can't even imagine.

I gave a little money, and I have a load of baby clothes I can drop off at the Haitian embassy. I wish I could do more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Two, because I give to the Red Cross every year, who I believe is always one of the main participants in helping people in disasters. And the last time there was a disaster, months after the Red Cross got a ton of donations, they fully admitted that all of the donations send because of "X" would not be used for "X" and instead would go to their general fund (which I am not against). So the money I gave towards the general fund is just as important as the money rolling in now.

This is not to say, I won't give to another fund if it seems to be actually going to the people in Haiti. But I'll admit I'm leery of any non-profit that jumps up out of the blue when disasters occur.

Yes, I was reluctant to text for the Red Cross because I remember the Katrina debacle. I also know nothing about Wyclef Jean's organization Yele. I ultimately decided to make a donation at Partner in Health's website based on a couple of recommendations. The thing to remember is that you don't have to donate today. Organizations are going to be needing your help to help Haiti for a long time to come. There's time to do some research and it makes sense to do it.

[Anonymous]

My company is going to match donations up to half a millon. So impressed and happy with them.

[Anonymous]

OP here, again, with perhaps some useful info.

Huffington Post had an article last night about how events that generate an outporing of charitable giving are a windfall to credit card companies. I hadn't thought of this before, but charities pay the same 3-5% transaction fee to the companies that merchants do, thus your donation is less that amount. American Express and Visa announced yesterday that they will waive their fee on transactions through February, so choose one of those if you have multiple cards, or write a check.

[Anonymous]

Don't worry, OP. Most of us understood your meaning the first time around. Peace to you, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before I had kids, yeah, of course it broke my heart to hear stories of mothers and children in these crisis situations - during Katrina, for example. But now that I have a toddler and an infant, I just ache for those people. I get choked up just thinking about what they must be going through. The idea of my baby's face, asking me for something to eat... I can't even imagine.

I gave a little money, and I have a load of baby clothes I can drop off at the Haitian embassy. I wish I could do more.

I'm with you. There's a photo of a toddler being rescued on the WP's site today, and I literally cried out when it popped up.

However, I work for a humanitarian aid agency, and have to say, maybe don't drop off those baby clothes. Folks in this industry refer to "the second disaster", which is sorting and moving and dealing with all the unsolicited material donations. The agencies have more pressing needs for their limited transportation and manpower resources. I mean, definitely call around and ask if anyone wants these donations. I have a feeling that you might be better off selling them locally and donating the cash, however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the record, I posted the rolling eyes. I should have specified - I was rolling my eyes to the person who said they were considering whether or not to donate but probably wouldn't. Thats ridiculous, and I say that as someone who grew up poor and doesn't make that much money now. Shame on anyone who isn't contributing.

Really? Shame on me for not contributing? Well, let's see. DH and I make decent money (great money from where we came from but not great money by the standards in this area). We have used older cars, 2 kids in a cheap (for this area) but amazing home daycare, no cells phones outside of work phones, and now with contributing to the households of my Dad (who has been out of work for a year), my Mom/Stepdad (who has been out of work for a few months), my DH's parents (who struggle on my MIL's pay and dealing with FIL's debilitating disease) in order to keep food on their tables and a roof over their heads I'd say we don't have any room in our finances to donate at this time.

We feel very blessed and have donated our budgeted amount to other charities earlier this year through CFC. I heavily rely on coupons to make our grocery bill significantly lower and to be able to stock my Dad's house (only one that lives somewhat close - a few hours away). We haven't been on a vacation since our honeymoon (10yrs ago) except to fly home to visit family. We just decided to not fly home for our DS first bday (which is killing me since we have no family in the area) and DD's birthday (within a few days of eachother). We don't eat out or buy starbucks.

I'm not sure how else to stretch our dollar or what to give up in order to donate. So, you are right shame on me for not contributing.

[Anonymous]

Yep, it's aaaallll about you, 11:03.

Did you read the title of the thread? It says "Have you donated to help Haiti yet?" I'm not entirely sure why you would have clicked on this thread, much less taken the time to write out a lengthy response, if you're so comfortable and justified in your position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We gave to Red Cross and Doctors w/o Borders. My company matched my donation which was an added bonus! May give again to Partners in Health.

Exactly what are you trying to imply? Your donations only make me feel bad about myself, and my feelings are way more important Haiti. What makes them so important all of the sudden? I'd appreciate it if you could not spread your positive energy around, because it irritates those of us who have none.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, I posted the rolling eyes. I should have specified - I was rolling my eyes to the person who said they were considering whether or not to donate but probably wouldn't. Thats ridiculous, and I say that as someone who grew up poor and doesn't make that much money now. Shame on anyone who isn't contributing.

Really? Shame on me for not contributing? Well, let's see. DH and I make decent money (great money from where we came from but not great money by the standards in this area). We have used older cars, 2 kids in a cheap (for this area) but amazing home daycare, no cells phones outside of work phones, and now with contributing to the households of my Dad (who has been out of work for a year), my Mom/Stepdad (who has been out of work for a few months), my DH's parents (who struggle on my MIL's pay and dealing with FIL's debilitating disease) in order to keep food on their tables and a roof over their heads I'd say we don't have any room in our finances to donate at this time.

We feel very blessed and have donated our budgeted amount to other charities earlier this year through CFC. I heavily rely on coupons to make our grocery bill significantly lower and to be able to stock my Dad's house (only one that lives somewhat close - a few hours away). We haven't been on a vacation since our honeymoon (10yrs ago) except to fly home to visit family. We just decided to not fly home for our DS first bday (which is killing me since we have no family in the area) and DD's birthday (within a few days of eachother). We don't eat out or buy starbucks.

I'm not sure how else to stretch our dollar or what to give up in order to donate. So, you are right shame on me for not contributing.



Save it. EVERYONE has a story PP. Yours does not even come close to the Haitian families. Don't contribute, that is your business. But realize that you are infinitely better off than MANY. Maybe ralizing that would save you the time of writing out a long justification over why you are just too strapped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before I had kids, yeah, of course it broke my heart to hear stories of mothers and children in these crisis situations - during Katrina, for example. But now that I have a toddler and an infant, I just ache for those people. I get choked up just thinking about what they must be going through. The idea of my baby's face, asking me for something to eat... I can't even imagine.

I gave a little money, and I have a load of baby clothes I can drop off at the Haitian embassy. I wish I could do more.

I'm with you. There's a photo of a toddler being rescued on the WP's site today, and I literally cried out when it popped up.

However, I work for a humanitarian aid agency, and have to say, maybe don't drop off those baby clothes. Folks in this industry refer to "the second disaster", which is sorting and moving and dealing with all the unsolicited material donations. The agencies have more pressing needs for their limited transportation and manpower resources. I mean, definitely call around and ask if anyone wants these donations. I have a feeling that you might be better off selling them locally and donating the cash, however.

I appreciate that. There was an email going around the office saying the Haitian embassy was accepting clothing and other donations this coming Sunday, and I have a ton of stuff. But there's nothing about it on the website, and it seems to direct donations to Red Cross and others. I'm going to take your advice and hold off on donating stuff for now. Those clothes aren't going anywhere...

[Anonymous]

I donated to the Red Cross, and my office offered matching funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I donated to the Red Cross, and my office offered matching funds.

Stop, stop bashing us. Us lawyers are sensitive, you know! You are really out of line and obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

For those who are able to give, one smaller but very efficient and effective aid organization is the Mennonite Central Committee. For the record, I am not Mennonite. You can look at their website if you are interested. They have worked in Haiti for years (as well as countries around the globe including the United States). They are big enough to be effective, but small enough that they have a personal touch. One of their great gifts is enabling people, rather than merely putting a band aid on the situation. Charity Navigator gives them an A rating.