For those of you who haven't heard, a devastating earthquake hit Haiti near Port-Au-Prince, its heavily-populated capital. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. The destruction, which will probably not be fully-known for days, is supposedly massive. Loss of life is estimated to be in the thousands. Many are left homeless, and even government buildings have been wrecked.
My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. I have already responded by making donations and with prayer. Maybe you can do something that will touch the lives of those affected. Maybe some who have the freedom, will even feel a pull to go there and help. Haiti is less than 700 miles from Florida.
For those donating money, I just want to suggest that you carefully choose the organization(s) to which you give. I highly recommend that you check www.CharityNavigator.org to see the rating of the charity, and to see what portion of the money they collect goes to programs, versus to administration and fundraising. I highly recommend the following, as I have already vetted them out, and know they are involved in the Haiti response. I will list their web addresses, along with a link to their Charity Navigator rating:
www.AmeriCares.org
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3289
Almost 99% to programs
www.SaveTheChildren.org
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4438
Almost 92% to programs
www.unicefusa.org
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4617
Just over 90% to programs
If you would like to share any personal, favorite organization with my readers, please post a comment. I would appreciate if you would also post a link to the Charity Navigator rating for the organization.
If you are considering inaction, I suggest that you ask yourself how you would want the people of the world to react if you were in the same situation. If money is tight, maybe you can just send your Love.
Thanks for your compassion,
Alan
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