Social Question

Steve_A's avatar

What will/would/have you done for the Haiti Relief?

Asked by Steve_A (5130points) January 22nd, 2010

In one question I must while I was just trying to be being honest, really rattled my bones, yes rattled my bones.

After the whole “I kinda don’t care thing” from another question.I did start to think a bit.

And well funny thing today at work,they had started (yesterday actually but I was off) a donation for just a dollar for ARC (American Red Cross) for Haiti Relief so I was like hell yeah I will get people to donate a dollar….I got 5 dollars out of say 25–30 people I was able to ask or tried to pitch to? give or take….I worked a small shift that day I would have gotten more people otherwise and the airport is strange you’d think it would be crowed in the shops but they really aren’t. Even when the airport is….

Anyways I was rather disappointed, I had a fair share of straight nos, and sorry. Some people not sure if they were BSing or not and some told me they had there firm give water or the like.

But one person made me pretty mad I go to him and theres a motorcycle display and you can sit on it, jokingly I go yea sure you can sit if you donate a dollar he goes sure whats it for?

I said for the in a prompt and trying to professional way to all people I spoke to “Haiti relief foundation through American Red Cross.” and he says “I won’t give my dollar to those people, they knew it was coming they live there.” about something along those lines. Oh man I was like wow….I wanted to tell him get you ass of the bike but I can’t get fired ya know hah…..

Anyways ( I got called in 4 hour shift psf..someone called out) otherwise I felt I could have made more, I got a total of 10 bucks 5 dollars from 5 people and I gave 5 dollars at the end of my shift.

I like you fluther people get my bones rattled….in a good way :)

So I will try and do it more now when I work, we even give them a receipt lol :D

What about you guys here at fluther plan on doing anything maybe donate a dollar,food, organization etc….?

Have you similar experiences when trying to help people, more rejection then assistance when really you might assume people would help or take action?

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

27 Answers

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

I donated to the Red Cross, the equivalent of a days income.

Dr_Lawrence's avatar

I will make a donation to the Red Cross here in Canada.

PandoraBoxx's avatar

I give to the Red Cross on a monthly basis anyways, but I donated more. And with the floods in CA, will probably up the amount again.

Cruiser's avatar

We…my troop of Boy Scouts are doing yet another backpack school supply collection this time for the kids of Haiti.

Steve_A's avatar

Cool stuff guys.

BoBo1946's avatar

Red Cross!

Bluefreedom's avatar

My wife and I have made donations through the Red Cross and my military unit is one of many on standby in case we are called down to assist in the relief effort. I’m ready to help in that regard too.

Trillian's avatar

I gave mine to the Red Cross and let them deal with it from there. I’d like to add however, that you cannot expect others to feel the way you do. I stated in another thread that we all have our charities that we like to support. You can’t reasonably expect everyone to donate to Haiti, for whatever reasons they may have. You don’t know where people are in their lives and judgement for not falling into conformity with your world view is counterproductive.
Go ahead and try to solicit donations, but I give through my office once a year when I fill out that paperwork, and anything extra is not a given for me.

kruger_d's avatar

I gave through my church’s national website. They have already received over a million dollar and hope to reach 2 million.

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

Well I donated to the Red Cross, the Yele Haiti – I made sure to support emotionally (for nights on end) all my friends whose families were unaccounted for. I informed many others as to how to donate and encouraged them to do so. I am hoping to go out there within the coming months to help some of my friends’ families rebuild.

casheroo's avatar

Most people I know refuse to donate through Red Cross. My mother usually never donates through any religious organizations, but some are actually doing a lot of good over there, and she’s done her research on which ones she chooses to donate to.

IchtheosaurusRex's avatar

I donated to CARE today. My company is matching employee contributions dollar for dollar, so I figured that would do the most good. The House unanimously passed a bill a couple of days ago allowing us to take contributions to Haitian relief out of our 2009 taxes instead of waiting for our 2010 returns. The Senate was expected to pass it as well.

janbb's avatar

Donated to the Red Cross.

Sonnerr's avatar

I have not done anything for Haiti. I haven’t money, or supplies to send. Volunteering would make me commute 2–3 hours ‘cause of weather conditions here. I’m kind of preparing for something to happen where I live. There were cyclones and copious amount of rainfall here. I should probably do something more.

ubersiren's avatar

I was actually just looking up some places I could go and volunteer. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anything close to where I live, so I think I’ll just donate. Probably not to the Red Cross, though.

janbb's avatar

@ubersiren My husband donated to them without consulting me (the nerve!) I would probably go for the International Rescue Fund or Doctors without Borders if it were me. I believe there is a list on the npr.org home page.

ubersiren's avatar

Yeah, I like Drs. I think I actually linked the npr list on fluther a few days ago. Also, for anyone who is interested- http://www.charitynavigator.org/ is a good place to see which charities you’d like to contribute to. It shows how much the CEOs make, how much debt they’re in (which is probably where your dollar goes if it’s a lot), and other info.

ubersiren's avatar

Update: Donated. I couldn’t get my husband to, though. :/

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

At present, I have taken part in streamlining and am now working in a section of the foreign travel office at my local health department in order to expeditiously inoculate the hundreds of relief workers that are passing through daily with the battery of recommended vaccines in an attempt to keep the heroes from becoming victims.

I am signed up to be on the infectious disease team at a stateside refugee processing center inoculating Haitian children and triaging them to local hospitals. Due to responsibilities with the health department, I have been asked to stay stateside for now, I will get over there eventually with Paul Farmer of Partners in Health. PIH is a great group of people that have been doing excellent health care in Haiti for years.

YARNLADY's avatar

I am trying to let everyone know of the choices that are available, such as the click to give site that doesn’t require any money, and very little time. Just visit the site once a day and click on the give button. The advertisers on the site send money out of their advertising budget.

Both Yahoo and Google homepages have links to legitimate donation sites.

4theloveofchocolate's avatar

Hubby and I are pretty strapped for cash right now. After two adoptions and now hubby has been out of work since Sept… well, you can imagine. Anyway, I feel the need to help, so I decided to use my chocolate business to do a fund raiser. For every Dove Chocolate Discoveries Valentine’s Dessert Collection purchased, I’ll donate $5 to the Red Cross.

See details on my blog at http://4theloveofchocolate.blogspot.com.

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

USAID BULLETIN
31 JANUARY 2010
HAITI

INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION
At the request of the Haitian government, the U.S. continues to coordinate America’s relief efforts with the United Nations and the international community. We are coordinating closely with more than 30 nations and hundreds of NGOs to deliver food and water quickly throughout the country.

Secretary of State Clinton discussed Haiti with UK Foreign Secretary Miliband and the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Catherine Ashton, earlier today in Washington. The Secretary stressed the vital partnership underway in Haiti, with the U.S. and EU countries working side by side on relief and rescue operations, and the need for a “coordinated, integrated, international response to the reconstruction and the return of prosperity and opportunity to Haiti.”

At the United Nations, the U.S. Deputy Ambassador, Alejandro Wolff, addressed the UN press corps to draw attention to the broad international character of the rescue and relief effort in Haiti. Held just before another pledging round for the UN Flash Appeal, Ambassador Wolff was joined by UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes and the Ambassadors from Haiti, Brazil, Canada, France and Uruguay.

HEALTH/MEDICAL
Yesterday, the hospital ship USNS Comfort started receiving injured patients from the local hospitals and international medical facilities. The Comfort has a crew of 850 to provide a host of medical services, and will eventually provide nearly 1,000 hospital beds, and 11 operating rooms.

The USNS Comfort has treated more than 230 patients received from 10 hospital sites already.

As of January 21, more than 7,000 patients have been treated by the 5 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) from the Department of Health and Human Services and one International Medical Surgical Team (IMSuRT) in Haiti (all funded by USAID/OFDA). These teams treated 2,160 patients on January 20.

Each DMAT has 35 staff members and 40 beds and functions as a field emergency room, while the IMSuRT has 50 staff members and 35 beds and performs disaster surgery.

AIRPORTS & PORTS
The airport in Port au Prince is open around the clock. The U.S. Air Force continues to manage air operations at the request of the Haitian Government. And the State Department continues to coordinate closely with our international partners and NGOs to facilitate the smooth arrival of aid and personnel. This is a consultative process with the government of Haiti and the UN involving dozens of international assistance flights, beyond U.S. civilian and military flights.

On January 20, 153 flights arrived (38 of those were official U.S. flights).
For example, of the 330 arrivals from January 16 – 18, approximately half were civilian/humanitarian, and less than 30% were military:
155 were civilian aircraft,
91 from U.S. military and government aircraft, and
84 from international governments and militaries – the proportion of international flights is rising.

On 1/18, flights landed from: Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United States, Ukraine, and from the United Nations and numerous international aid organizations such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the World Food Program (WFP).

The WFP has placed a coordination cell at the airport in Haiti to assist with the prioritization of flights and the movement of humanitarian assistance through the airport to areas of need in Haiti.

The port is beginning to receive some ships and is about 30% operational. The port at Jacmel, southwest of Port-au-Prince is currently operational during daylight for certain vessels. U.S. Army/Navy dive teams with underwater construction teams continued to assess port structural damage.

U.S. Transportation Command reports that since commencing air operations, a total of 160 missions have been flown that have carried more than 2,600 tons of relief supplies and more than 2,500 military and relief personnel into Haiti.

SAFETY & SECURITY
As of January 21, approximately 13,000 military personnel (10,000 afloat and 3,000 ashore) are a part of the relief effort.

The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) continues to provide assistance in support of Leogane and Petit Goave. They currently have 356 Marines ashore.
The remaining assets from 2/82 Brigade Combat Team and equipment will complete deployment to Port-au-Prince by January 22. They currently have 3,062 soldiers on ground.

As of January 21 there are 20 U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships, 63 helicopters, and 204 vehicles in the joint operations area.
The U.S. Coast Guard has 12 aircraft operating in Haiti:
Five C-130 airplanes
One C-144 airplane
Three H-65 helicopters
Three H-60 helicopters The U.S. Coast Guard has 6 vessels:
Coast Guard Cutter Valiant
Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma
Coast Guard Cutter Forward
Coast Guard Cutter Oak
Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton
Coast Guard Cutter Legare

Additionally, the Coast Guard has 3 vessels in the Florida Straits to support any tasking related to Haiti relief efforts: Coast Guard Cutters Alert, Dependable, and Venturous.

The U.S. Coast Guard has 801 service members on site assisting with recovery:
26 ashore,
719 afloat,
56 aircrew.
SOUTHCOM funded and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) contracted for the purchase of 50,000 hand held radios to distribute to the Haitian people.

As of the last night, 43,800 radios had arrived in Port-au-Prince. The remaining 6,200 radios are slated for delivery to Special Operations Command South by January 25 and flow into Haiti thereafter

The Military Information Support Team (MIST) in coordination with USAID will begin distribution of these radios immediately. 60,000 stickers, with the frequencies on them, and 60,000 hand bills that demonstrate (with pictures) how to operate the radio will be distributed with the radios.

This hand held radio initiative is part of an overall effort to reach the people of Haiti via FM/AM broadcasting of VOA programming and CJTF Haiti public service announcements.

EVACUATION & RESCUES
The U.S. government continues evacuations from Haiti around the clock. The total number of people evacuated from Haiti by the U.S. is approximately 10,500, of which 8,300 were American citizens. More than 1,100 Americans have been evacuated today, as of 3 p.m.

Search and Rescue: Currently, 43 international USAR teams, comprised of 1,739 rescue workers, with 161 dogs, are working in Haiti. 6 of those teams are from the United States – with 511 rescue workers from Fairfax County, Los Angeles County, Miami, Miami-Dade, Virginia Beach, and New York.

USAID/OFDA has provided more than $36 million in support of U.S. USAR teams deployed to Haiti to date.

U.S. USAR teams are currently conducting secondary reconnaissance missions throughout Port-au-Prince following the aftershock yesterday.

FOOD & WATER
C-17 air delivery of food and water resumed today—14,000 water bottles and 14,500 MREs/Humanitarian Rations were slated for delivery. The drop zone is in the vicinity of Mirebalais, about 25 miles northeast of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince. A MINUSTAH battalion secured the site.

U.S. military aircraft, helicopters, and vessels are giving the highest priority to the shipment of water. Over the past several days, JTF-Haiti has distributed more than 600,000 bottles of water and more than 400,000 meals/humanitarian rations. The USS Carl Vinson is producing 100,000 gallons of potable water daily. Water tanks are being installed in each zone of the city and potable water is now available at 45 distribution points. The U.S. Coast Guard has distributed a total of 38.5 tons of water (62,880 bottles). And USAID/OFDA has delivered 9 water treatment units to provide 900,000 liters of safe drinking water for 90,000 people per day.

More than 238,000 meals/humanitarian rations and 400,000 bottles of water were delivered yesterday alone.

The Crowley vessel Maracajam arrived in the Dominican Republic yesterday with more than 60,000 meals/humanitarian rations and water for the WFP.

The USNS Lummus, capable of producing 94,000 gallons of potable water, is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

USAID/FFP has contributed food assistance worth $68 million.

To date, International Organization for Migration (IOM) has delivered 240,600 water purification tablets for household use, 3,300 water containers, and 1,920 hygiene kits (funded by USAID/OFDA) to several neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince.

Today, World Vision, in partnership with USAID, started distribution of 2,000 metric tons of Food for Peace (FFP) commodities. The commodities will meet the immediate food needs of 18,670 families, or approximately 93,350 individuals, in Petion Ville, Delmas, and Port-au-Prince.

Yesterday, a USAID/OFDA-funded flight carrying emergency relief supplies arrived in Port-au-Prince. Commodities included equipment to maintain a field hospital, including a trauma kit and air-conditioning unit. This is in addition to the water treatment units, ten-liter water containers, hygiene kits, rolls of plastic sheeting, and water bladders provided in recent days.

ADOPTIONS & ORPHANS
Yesterday, Secretary Clinton announced that the State Department is heading up a joint task force with the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to focus on orphans and unaccompanied minors, to streamline the process of adoptions, and to ensure that these families are united as quickly as possible while still ensuring that proper safeguards are in place to protect children in our care. An interagency working group has been established to focus on the humanitarian needs of highly vulnerable children. And the Administration is also working closely with the many Members of Congress who are understandably very concerned about this process.
On Monday, Secretary Napolitano announced humanitarian parole for certain Haitian orphans. We remain focused on family reunification and must be vigilant not to separate children from relatives in Haiti who are still alive but displaced, or to unknowingly assist criminals who traffic in children in such desperate times. To do so, we strongly discourage the use of private aircraft to evacuate orphans. All flights must be appropriately coordinated with the U.S. and Haitian governments to ensure proper clearances are granted before arrival in the United States.

ASSISTANCE
As of January 20, USAID had contributed $90 million to the U.N. appeal, including $22 million in non-food assistance and $68 million in food assistance. An additional $73.9 million in bilateral assistance for search-and-rescue and other assistance had also been committed as of December 20, bringing total USAID assistance to Haiti to nearly $165 million.

YARNLADY's avatar

@Espiritus_Corvus Thank you for the news. To ALL here, this is what you and I – the taxpayers of the United States – are doing for the relief effort. Be Proud to Be An American.

gr8teful's avatar

Donated to the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders.

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.
Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther