Haiti has been a slow-motion disaster for a very long time.
It is a country that has seen heart-breaking poverty, horrifying violence, and draconian governments, including that of “Papa Doc” Duvalier.
Survival has never been easy in Haiti.
Now, with the recent massive earthquake, it is likely to be impossible for tens of thousands.
This catastrophe hitting Haiti is like a ravening dragon not attacking a group of armored knights, but ripping apart the terminal ward at the hospital, slaughtering people on life support who were struggling for their lives.
One thing I hope is that, now that this latest blow has put the disaster into fast forward, the response to it may provide some long-term help.
Amazon has made it possible to donate to Mercy Corps directly through their site. Mercy Corps is a well-known and respected organization. They have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. They were awarded the Star of Sacrifice by President Musharraf of Pakistan for their work with the Kashmir earthquake in 2005.
You can use your existing Amazon account to donate an amount you choose by going to this page:
Amazon Haitian Earthquake Relief page
You can certainly donate other ways, but I appreciate Amazon making this so easy to do. Money is what’s needed most in this case. Haiti does not have the infrastructure to distribute physical donations. Without the money, donations of blankets, food, and such would not get to where they were needed.
How or if you choose to help is certainly up to you…there are a lot of worthy ways to contribute in the world. I just thought some of my readers might appreciate this convenient way to provide some much needed assistance.
A reader expressed concern about how Mercy Corps might use the money. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, they have to have a pretty thorough disclosure. That enables third party groups and individuals to evaluate different charities. One site that does that is Charity Navigator. Here is a link to their page on Mercy Corps:
Charity Navigator analysis of Mercy Corps
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.
I Love My Kindle 
January 14, 2010 at 4:33 pm |
i am not raining on your party or your relationship with amazon. but, you know that folks raising $ for a cause only have to turn in 10%, claiming 90% for administrative costs. just a though.
January 14, 2010 at 5:23 pm |
blair, I appreciate your concern.
Mercy Corps is a 501(c)3 organization, and as such, they have to do a pretty thorough disclosure. That enables people to evaluate any given charity. One site that evaluates organizations is Charity Navigator. I’ll add the link to their evaluation of Mercy Corps to the flash post, for people who want to review that first. Here it is: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4078