Photos of Haiti after the earthquake courtesy of NPR.
No, this is not meant to shame, shame, shame. Not aimed to shame like the time I got a huge gash in my finger… or that parking ticket in SF…. or that flat tire; if you don’t know what I’m talking about you probably don’t want to know.
I am here to tell you how you can donate money to earthquake victims without spending any extra money! Simply text “HAITI” to 90999, log into your wireless carrier portal, and downgrade your text message or voice plan by $10. Decide to either call more or text more this month. Because let’s face it: we can’t live without data… but these people are living without water! And food! And shelter! And healthcare! And things much more essential than little signals that travel over the intertubes. Rationalization, for the win! Did that work in convincing you? That totally didn’t work, huh? Oh well, didn’t think so.
What you should probably do: Donate through UNICEF instead. ”The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is absorbing all associated administrative costs so that 100% of every dollar you give to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF will support UNICEF’s relief efforts for children in Haiti.” Out of the 20 or so organizations I looked at, no one except for UNICEF and Direct Relief International made that promise. UNICEF also has an excellent infrastructure, and they are already there. It takes a bit more effort, but it’s worth it. I also made a twitter list to track what charities are doing for earthquake relief.
A lot of people are asking which charities contribute the most, percentage-wise, to actual relief. Don’t worry… we’re working on a solution to make this information easier to find. Yeah, yeah, I’ll get on it.
