World Haiti Earthquake: How To Help?

United Sikhs take the Initiative: http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/united-sikhs/28921-haiti-needs-our-united-sikhs-humanitarian.html

Haiti earthquake: How to help

A list of charitable organizations active in the nation

Haiti earthquake: How to help - Haiti earthquake- msnbc.com

• Action Against Hunger, 877-777-1420
• Agape Flights, 941-584-8078
• American Red Cross, 800-733-2767
• American Jewish World Service, 212-792-2900
• AmeriCares, 800-486-4357
• Beyond Borders, 866-424-8403
• CARE, 800-521-2273
• CarmaFoundation
• Catholic Relief Services, 800-736-3467
• Childcare Worldwide, 800-553-2328
• Concern Worldwide, 212-557-8000
• Cross International, 800-391-8545
• Direct Relief International, 805-964-4767
• Doctors Without Borders, 888-392-0392
• Feed My Starving Children, 763-504-2919
• Food for the Poor, 800-427-9104
• Friends of WFP, 866-929-1694
• Haiti Children, 877-424-8454
• Haiti Foundation Against Poverty
• Haiti Marycare, 203-675-4770
• Haitian Health Foundation, 860-886-4357
• Hope for Haiti, 239-434-7183
• International Medical Corps, 800-481-4462
• International Rescue Committee, 877-733-8433
• International Relief Teams, 619-284-7979
• Lutheran World Relief, 800-597-5972
• Medical Teams International, 800-959-4325
• Meds and Food for Kids, 314-420-1634
• Mennonite Central Committee, 888-563-4676
• Mercy Corps, 888-256-1900
• Operation Blessing, 800-730-2537
• Operation USA, 800-678-7255
• Oxfam, 800-776-9326
• Partners in Health, 617-432-5298
• Rural Haiti Project, 347-405-5552
• The Salvation Army, 800-725-2769
• Samaritan's Purse, 828-262-1980
• Save the Children, 800-728-3843
• UN Central Emergency Response Fund
• UNICEF, 800-367-5437
• World Concern, 800-755-5022
• World Hope International, 888-466-4673
• World Relief, 800-535-5433
• World Vision, 888-511-6548
• Yele Haiti, 212-352-0552
  Wyclef Jean's grassroots org
  Text Yele to 501 501 to donate $5 via your cellphone

The U.S. State Department Operations Center said Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti should call 1-888-407-4747. Due to heavy volume, some callers may receive a recording. "Our embassy is still in the early stages of contacting American citizens through our Warden Network," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "Communications are very difficult within Haiti at this time."

For those interesting in helping immediately, simply text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

Finally, the FBI urges people who are looking for ways to help with earthquake relief to be wary of solicitations that could be from scam artists.

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"Past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization or a good cause," the FBI said, in passing along these tips:

• Ignore unsolicited e-mails, and do not click on links within those messages.

• Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as surviving victims or officials asking for donations via e-mail or social networking sites.

• Be cautious of e-mails that claim to show pictures of the disaster areas in attached files, because the files may contain computer viruses. Open attachments only from know senders.

• Decline to give personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions.

• Make contributions directly to known organizations, rather than relying on others who claim in e-mails that they will channel the donation to established groups.

The FBI says anyone receipting an e-mail that appears to be a scam should forward it to this website: www.ic3.gov

Re: Haiti earthquake: How to help

You can also donate through the International Red Cross.

There is a donation site online.



13-1-2010
Haiti: ICRC joins Red Cross effort to help earthquake victims

The ICRC is contributing to relief efforts by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement both in Port-au-Prince and from its regional base in Panama.

The ICRC plans to focus on providing medical aid for survivors of the earthquake and support for efforts to recover and identify the dead. It will also support Red Cross efforts to restore contacts between family members separated because of the earthquake and its aftermath. Finally, it plans to assess the needs of the prisons where it has been regularly visiting detainees.

Your contribution will be attributed to all our activities in Haiti, approximately half of the budget for which will be dedicated to the victims of the earthquake.

Help the victims of war: make a donation to the ICRC today

Re: Haiti earthquake: How to help

UPS is shipping anything under 50lbs for free to Haiti. You can send food clothes or shoes...and American Airlines is taking doctors and nurses to Haiti for free. Please call 212-697-9767. Spread the word... Red Cross needs Creole speaking volunteers for a 24hr phone bank. Call Mr. Wilfrid @ 305-776-6900 ASAP...

And

(For US only):
How to help Haiti: Send a text msg on your cellphone to 90999, with the word Haiti in the message body, and $10 will be added to your cellphone bill. The cell networks will donate $10 to the Red Cross for each person that pledges money this way. Do it and post this on your wall and help them!!!!

Spread the Word!

Re: Haiti earthquake: How to help

Sikh Temple raises $100K first day

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/81746007.html

Note: This is the same sangat that just dug itself out from a controversial election only to discover that it was in grave financial difficulty itself. That did not stop the sangat from digging deeper and finding the money to soothe the souls and spirits of suffering earthquake victims. In Surrey the sangat can multi-task. The message of the Gurus is alive and well in Surrey.

Ardaas for victims. See this link
http://www.gurunanakgurdwara.ca/2010/events/ardaas-for-haiti

A Surrey Sikh temple raised $100,000 for relief efforts in Haiti on the first day of donations.

Even before the launch of the fund raising campaign, phone calls, emails and text messages overwhelmed volunteers at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara on Scott Road, near 70 Avenue.

All day long a steady flow of Sikhs from all walks of life and all ages, flowed through the Scot Road Temple, donating to this cause. A planned Radio-thon on local South Asian Radio Stations, Red FM and Shere Punjab was started a day earlier and put in half a day of on the air collections.

The end result of the first day of effort, was approximately $100,000 in donations being pledged. As the community gears up for day two of the fundraising event, many volunteers have taken vacation time off work, to come volunteer at the Gurdwara Sahib and the local Radio stations, collecting donations.

A full 15 hour radio-thon takes place on Friday January 15th, on Red FM and Shere Punjab, in conjunction with the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

"The local Sikh community has always shown its support for humanitarian relief efforts, in any part of the world," according to temple president Bikramjit Singh Sandhar. "No matter what our background, where we live, we're all equal and each and every one of us should do their utmost to help a fellow human being."

Donations to the campaign can be made through the Gurdwara Sahib website at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara or email contact@gurunanakgurdwara.ca.

How to help Haiti

Help from Canada is en route to quake-ravaged Haiti.

The Canadian government has pledged $5 million in immediate emergency aid.

Ottawa also announced it will be matching individual donations to charities up to a maximum of $50-million.

Foreign minister Lawrence Cannon said the Canadian military's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), 200 personnel equipped to provide fast assistance to disaster-affected regions, is ready to help.

Advance teams have already been sent to assess the situation, Cannon said.

A CC-177 Globemaster III aircraft full of medical aid and a pair of search-and-rescue helicopters have been dispatched and two naval frigates are on standby.

Charities gathering donations for earthquake relief include Unicef Canada, The Humanitarian Coalition , a joint effort between Oxfam Canada, Oxfam Quebec, CARE Canada and Save the children, Plan Canada, SOS Children's Villages, United Nations World Food Programme, FTC Canada, Samaritan's Purse, World Vision Canada, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Mennonite Central Committee, and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).


The Better Business Bureau in B.C. has issued a warning about fake charities trying to profit from the disaster.

“Whenever there is a major natural disaster, be it home or abroad, there are two things you can count on," says BBB president Lynda Pasacreta.

"The first is the generosity of Canadians to donate time and money to help victims, and the second is the appearance of poorly run and in some cases fraudulent charities."

The Better Business Bureau offers the following six tips to help Canadians decide where to direct donations:

1. Rely on expert opinion when it comes to evaluating a charity.

Don't rely on bloggers or other Web sites. Go to the Canada Revenue Agency to research charities and relief organizations to verify their accountability.

2. Be wary of claims that 100 percent of donations will assist relief victims.

Despite what an organization might claim, charities have fund raising and administrative costs. Even a credit card donation will involve, at a minimum, a processing fee.

3. Be cautious when giving online.

Be cautious about online giving, especially in response to spam messages and emails that claim to link to a relief organization. In response to the tsunami disaster in 2004, there were concerns raised about many Web sites and new organizations that were created overnight allegedly to help victims.

4. Find out if the charity has an on-the-ground presence in the impacted areas.

Unless the charity already has staff in the effected areas, it may be difficult to get new aid workers to quickly provide assistance. See if the charity’s website clearly describes what they can do to address immediate needs.
5. Find out if the charity is providing direct aid or raising money for other groups.

Some charities may be raising money to pass along to relief organizations. You may want to consider “avoiding the middleman” and giving directly to charities that have a presence in the region. Or, at a minimum, check out the ultimate recipients of these donations to ensure the organizations are equipped to effectively provide aid.

6. Gifts of clothing, food or other in-kind donations may not be a good idea.

In-kind drives for food and clothing, while well intentioned, may not necessarily be the quickest way to help those in need.

Not unless the organization has the staff and infrastructure to be able to properly distribute such aid. Ask the charity about their transportation and distribution plans. Beware those who are not experienced in disaster relief assistance.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has also compiled a guide, How Canadians Can Help, with tips to avoid scam artists and ensure donations are sent to reputable groups.

http://www.khalsaaid.org/index.html

Thanks balwinder ji

Khalsa Aid is doing a great job and we have a thread dedicated just to their work. The organization has been keeping it updated. And the pictures day by day are telling a very emotional story but a story of small victories that raise our hopes for the people of Haiti.