After what’s happened in Haiti, I’ve been considering what someone like me can do to help. Obviously, I can’t fly down to Haiti, but just because that’s not an option doesn’t mean I should sit up here briefing cases. With that in mind, I have done a little research to see what people who are a little short on cash and time can do to help with relief efforts.
1. Check out www.freerice.org It’s a great place for a study break and quite educational. Currently, they are donating the money raised to Haiti under the UN World Food Program. They also have a texting number where you can donate $5 for relief work.
2. Go to www.greatergood.com . They have a free to click link specifically for helping to end hunger: http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1&link=ctg_ths_home_from_ggc_home_sitenav .The other aspect of this site that I appreciate is that it gives the people who lives in these areas a venue for their goods. To the best of my knowledge, they legitimately do sell goods which these men and women make and then pay them for it, enabling these people to make a living. On the front page right now or at least the last time I checked, they were featuring some of the Haitian goods, which can potentially help these people continue to make a living in these desperate times. Also the items purchased under this area of the site are matched with the equivalent food donation. After all of the rubble is cleared away and the survivors are treated, these men and women will have to find a way to make a living again.
3. Donate what you can to www.worldvision.com or www.compassion.com or www.redcross.com . Every little bit counts. For those of you who are members of the Christian Legal Society, they will match and double your donation until January 29, 2010. You have to log into the website though: www.clsnet.com
4. Send letters of encouragement and reminders of prayer and consolation to those people you know. Many people in Haiti have family and friends who also live here, people you may know and people who may not be able to get down to Haiti to be with their families in these difficult times. Don’t forget about them. In the long run, a letter may not do much to save a life, but it may do a great deal to encourage and strengthen someone.
5. Check in with your church to see if they are going to be sending packages down to Haiti. I do not know that this is happening yet, but I have heard rumors at least around here that in the near future they will be sending stuff down. If I find out about any churches that are doing this around here or back home, I will certainly post it. Also check in with missionaries and people you know down in Haiti.
6. Pray. Never underestimate the power of prayer and its ability to change lives, and I do not say it lightly. These men and women and children have far deeper needs than any of us could ever satisfy and needs that will not end with the passing of a day or the healing of a wound.
Thanks for reading. God bless you! Be dangerous.
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