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Haiti Relief - Updates

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Over 60 networks plan telethon to raise funds for Haiti

As the crisis in Haiti continues in the wake of the devastating earthquakes, Think mtv and George Clooney have teamed up to present a telethon to rally support and raise money for the embattled country.

On Friday night, January 22nd, the Oscar-winning actor will appear in a bi-coastal telethon and fundraiser on all MTV Networks channels, including MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and CMT.  The telethon is also expected to be televised on major broadcast networks, HBO, CNN, and over 60 other networks as well as online.

All proceeds will go toward relief efforts in Haiti.

Top-billed performers include Beyoncé, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Bono, Jay-Z and Coldplay. In addition, former President Clinton and actors including Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt, Chris Rock, Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Robert Pattinson, Tom Hanks and Will Smith will appear.

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United Way fund to support Haiti reconstruction

United Way Worldwide has established a disaster relief fund to support long-term recovery efforts to rebuild lives and infrastructure devastated by the Haitian earthquake and to address educational, financial and health-related challenges.  Donations to the fund can be made several ways:

  • HAITI to 864833 (UNITED) to donate $5 billed on your cell phone account.
  • Designating  your regular United Way pledge by using Donor Choice #48496.
  • Donating online here.

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Young people urged to respond to Haitian crisis

Youth Service America is encouraging young people throughout the US to take the lead in responding to the needs of the people of Haiti.

The organization says that one of the best ways for youth to help is to share information and ideas of how to help and ask their friends, family, teachers, and community members to join them.

Youth can use their Facebook and Twitter accounts to share information and ideas about how people can help, including fundraising ideas.  YSA said that a good example of this are Tweets from the popular performer Usher on his Powered By Service Twitter page.  The group is also gathering ideas about how young people can support the relief efforts, on its Facebook page or by tweeting to @YouthService on Twitter, using #youthrelief.

YSA is also offering a tipsheet containing a list of basic fundraising ideas.  The document can be downloaded here.

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Local group organizing arts therapy for Haitian children

Creative arts therapy is especially effective with children experiencing trauma from catastrophe.  Partnering at temporary medical sites, food distribution centers and shelters, both individual and group arts therapy experiences will not only help children cope and heal from trauma, but assist local workers in working with children who have lost parents and children, suffered violence, and struggle to find security and safety.

Philadelphia’s BuildaBridge has organized Haiti Arts Relief to work with children who have experienced trauma due to the catastrophic earthquake in Port-au-Prince.  The group is organizing its relief efforts in collaboration with international partners on the ground.  If you are or know an artist with relief experience or an art therapist, email here.

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City Haitians prepare to send medical help

Haitian Professionals of Philadelphia has been organizing transportation for medical professionals and supplies to Haiti, having received the donation of a jumbo jet leaving shortly from Philadelphia.  The group is working on raising the funds to fuel the trip.   For more information, click here.

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Business group asks for ideas on rebuilding Haiti

Business Fights Poverty has established a blog to gather ideas in answer to the question, “At this time, how can the business community make it possible for Haitians to look forward to a better brighter future?”

The organization is an international community of “professionals passionate about fighting world poverty through good business.”  To participate in the discussion, click here.

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Aid experts: Give money – not supplies

Saundra Schimmelpfennig, an recognized expert on international aid efforts, has published an article  on her blog entitled Good Intentions Are Not Enough, encouraging Americans to put off offering supplies for the Haiti relief effort and instead to focus on cash donations to the various organizations on the ground.  Her message, according to the New York Times, is being echoed by the Obama Administration and by the partnership of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who have announced a new venture to raise funds for Haiti relief.

“I know a lot of people want to send blankets or water,” Mr. Bush said. “Just send your cash.”

Every aid worker has a favorite story about useless donations, the Times article reported.  Raymond Offenheiser, the president of Oxfam America was quoted as recalling being in Bangladesh after a cyclone had killed 200,000 people and watching local women trying to make sense out of French TV dinners — “complete with croissant,” he said — that required a microwave.

“There isn’t always a lot of thought that goes into these gifts,” he said. “The impulse is just to do something, anything.”

The Times article also reported on another widely circulated blog post, No One Needs Your Old Shoes: How Not to Help in Haiti, by Alanna Shaikh, an international relief and development expert working in Tajikistan. It suggested giving money, not goods; going to volunteer only if you have medical expertise and are vetted by a reputable organization; and supporting the far less immediate task of rebuilding Haiti.

The comments on Aid Watch, a blog managed by the Development Research Institute at New York University, underscored the point. One person wrote about the bewilderment of survivors of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras upon opening a box of donated high-heeled shoes, while another tells of the arrival in Congo of boxes of used toothbrushes, expired over-the-counter drugs and broken bicycles.

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HelpAge supports older adults

HelpAge USA and its local partners in Haiti have reached several nursing homes in Port-au-Prince and have been distributing medical supplies and assessing the needs of older people.

Though the HelpAge office in Port au Prince was badly damaged, local staff are working to assess the immediate needs of the older survivors.

Currently an estimated 329 temporary living camps have been established in the Haitian capital. HelpAge is currently working in ten of them, including one near the Port-au-Prince Municipal Nursing Home, supporting over 400 people.

Members of the HelpAge regional office in Jamaica and the emergency response team from London have been dispatched to Haiti to reinforce relief efforts for the survivors of the country’s worst earthquake in two centuries. They are accompanied by the HelpAge partner from the Dominican Republic, ALA Dominicana, which is bringing in mobile medical units.

“The challenges are daunting, but we are currently assessing needs in areas hit by the quake”, says Marilyn Grist, Executive Director of HelpAge USA. “Our response will include emergency healthcare, relief supplies, temporary shelter and counseling.”

Emergency program coordinators in Port-au-Prince are busy establishing an office and have been attending meetings of the UN health team to ensure older people are included in the response to the emergency.

To learn more about what HelpAge USA is doing to help respond to the Haiti earthquake, click here.

The AARP Foundation's Haiti Relief Fund will assist HelpAfe to ensure supplies and emergency support are provided to the countless older people and others who are suffering from the disaster.  The Foundation will match each donation to its Haiti Relief Fund up to a maximum of $500,000.  For more information, click here.

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Haitians in US may apply for temporary protected status

US Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that Haitian nationals who were living in the U.S. as of Jan. 12, 2010 are eligible to file for Temporary Protected Status as a result of the devastating earthquake.

Napolitano has determined that an 18-month designation of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti is warranted because of the devastating earthquake and aftershocks which occurred on January 12th. As a result, Haitians in the United States (and other individuals without nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) are unable to return safely to their country. DHS said it will continue to work with other branches of the United States Government to closely monitor developments in Haiti to determine the need for additional action.

Napolitano said that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services offices will process immigration applications for TPS filed by between 100,000 andc 200,000 nationals of Haiti.

For further information, call USCIS Customer Service at 800-375-5283. Service is available in English and Spanish and USCIS is working on providing interpreters for other languages.

It is also helpful to visit the USCIS website. Additional information for Haitian applicants is being added regularly.

Assistance is also available at local organizations serving immigrants and refugees, including the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, Nationalities Service Center, HIAS and Council Migration Service, and Catholic Social Services.

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Emergency food, Shelter. Water, etc.

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Medical Relief

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Children and Families

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Faith organizations

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Reconstruction

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