Devastation in Haiti
Americans need to respond
As we have all seen on the news, Haiti is in shambles following the devastation from an earthquake earlier this week. What many may not know is Haiti was in shambles before the earthquake. Haiti is the poortest country in the Western Hemishpere with an annual GDP of $720, or about two bucks a day. Politically the country has been savaged by corrupt politicians for years.
I have travelled to some places like Haiti including to the country of Sudan which is among the world’s poorest countries. Countries like Sudan and Haiti aren’t nice places to begin with. When a tragedy like this strikes, those countries become even uglier places with devastated infrastructure, fractured supply lines, inadequate medical facilities, a lack of food, and dirty water.
The people of Haiti are suffering and deserve much-needed humanitarian assistance. Irreverent View encourgages its readers to assist the Haitian relief effort by making an immediate on-line contribution to the American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) by clicking here, then clicking on the “donate now” button on the upper right-hand screen. Even a small contribution of just $10 or $25 (the amount you may spend at lunch at work today or for a family pizza tonight) will bring valuable assistance to the Haitian people.
January 14th, 2010 at 10:57 am
The public can also help by texting “Haiti” to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the Red Cross, through an effort backed by the U.S. State Department. Funds will go to support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:12 am
Thanks, Chris. I am hoping that the military and Red Cross listen carefully to aid organizations already on the ground — they seem to be saying that water and food are urgently needed ASAP, not surprisingly.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Thanks Chris,
Some of my firefighter friends are already there to help with search and rescue.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Note re: Jeremy’s comment. This is true. It (the text option)was in the St. Pete Times this morning and the option to send money by texting is also noted on the American Red Cross website. In other words, this is not some scam. But beware of scammers and replying to unsolicited emails with links to contribution sites. Always best to type in the URL yourself or Google what you are looking for.