How to help Haiti

I have been to the Dominican and have seen barely clothed Haitians rummage for anything to satisfy their hunger. One image I will never forget is a little girl standing on top of a trash pile. Flies were swarming around her face and she reached beside an animal carcass to pull up a filthy old orange. It satisfied her hunger for the moment and she began to rummage again.

We have seen sheets of metal propped up as houses, sugar cane fields used for work and restrooms.

Haitians are what we would call the lowliest of low. You hear about poverty in Africa because of Hollywood's spotlight on them, but we rarely hear about Haiti. Yesterday changed that. A 7.0 earthquake on top of extreme poverty is something that we could never imagine. During 9-11 we saw a quick response and the people responding were well equipped to help those in need. I couldn't help but notice that in the pictures of the deceased Haitians not one of them were wearing shoes. As Christ followers we have an opportunity to step up and put our money where our mouth is, and if you "don't have money" you can offer time and prayers. Here are a few ways we can help......

• Text "Haiti" to "90999" to donate $10 to the Red Cross -- The US State Department very quickly put together this number to channel relief contributions directly to first responders who will be on the ground there. {The $10 will show up as a charge on your next cell phone bill.
• Text “Disaster” to 90999 to give $10 to Compassion International’s Disaster Relief Program -- They will be working directly with the local churches who knew where these families live and will be providing immediate relief to them. {This will show up on your next cell phone bill as well.}

• If you give, go over to Kelly’s Korner and leave a comment on this post. She and her husband are donating $1 for every comment that is left.

• Head over to the Tasty Kitchen blog and enter a giveaway that is, in turn, giving to Haiti earthquake recovery efforts. The Pioneer Woman and her family are donating 10 cents for every entry. That may not seem like much but given that she usually receives over 12,000 entries per contest, it could really add up.