Whatever, and wherever you can give -

I am posting links to the relief efforts and projects that I trust and have donated to myself. Pick one, or all, and pass it on. We CAN help, and we do, even if we aren’t there.

While Facebook and cell phone donating is a great way to collect funds from people who would not otherwise donate, I encourage you to make your contributions directly to the organizations of your choice.  Cutting out the middleman removes unnecessary fees that reduce the impact of your gift.

http://www.clintonfoundation.org/haitiearthquake/

http://www.redcross.org/

I am a member of Child Fund. Its a fantastic organization that focuses on the healthy growth of children while combating starvation and poverty. They don’t have any stations set up in Haiti yet, but they have a few contacts and would like donations to be able to get started in Haiti. I have donated, because I believe in their mission and their methods for dealing with the aftermath of such a terrible disaster. Check them out when you have a moment.

http://www.childfund.org/help-haiti/

And also, Soles4Souls is mounting a massive response of emergency relief to the victims of Haiti’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake near the capital city of Port-au-Prince. 3 million people are directly affected by the damage, and are in immediate need of the most basic necessities, like food, water, AND SHOES.

Soles4Souls is partnering with local shoe and sporting goods retailers to collect used shoes for men, women and children to be immediately shipped to Haiti, to help survivors locate others trapped in the rubble and begin the rebuilding process. As you can imagine, the amount of broken glass, twisted metal and raw sewage is staggering.  S4S is also partnering with others to supply new boots and shoes, tents, blankets, duffle bags, food and water.

You may donate gently worn shoes at one of their many local donation sites, http://www.soles4souls.org/

An excellent source for finding out how charities are doing with the efficiency of their funds.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

The older I get the more skeptical I have become with donating to charities. The sad truth of it is many of us have been at the brunt of some person or scam artist appealing to our better nature.  From that experience somewhere we decided “not ever again will I be fooled”.

I still give to charities, but now I research where my money is going. A site I love is Charity Navigator to find out how efficiently a charity is using the donated funds. However, Child Fund International is a charity I have been supporting for about 5 years now regularly. The way they work is you sponsor a child. This means, you give $24 a month through Child Fund to that child and his or her family. This covers food, medical supplies, water, clothes, books, school, as well as programs that help the community become self sufficient. You also write letters with your sponsored child, or if they are too young, then with their family. Child Fund has people to translate the letter, and you are sent both the original handwritten note as well as the translation. In this way you can stay in communication with the child and really see the effects your donations are doing. Also, they have a great score on Charity navigator.   In the 5 years I have been with them I feel like I really am helping someone, someone I am building a relationship with through letters.

So, after all of that – I recommend you check them out at https://www.childfund.org/

Who knows, it might be good fit. And, even in you cannot afford to regularly sponsor a child, you can make one-time donations here and they will use that money where it is the most needed.