Might as well start this...

List of the initial earthquake and all aftershocks:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/10/285_20_eqs.php


http://www.theinsider.com/news/3151288_W...thquake_Victims

You can donate $5 at a time by sending "YELE" (without quotes) to 501501. This was setup by Wyclef Jean, nephew of the Haitian Ambassador.

I got a "heads up" phone call last night, and now I'm just waiting for a possible deployment order for a mission to Haiti. I kinda doubt it will happen, but my uniforms and gear are packed and ready. If I go, I'll try to post reports here.

Also, $10 goes to the American Red Cross if you text "HAITI" to "90999", charged to your cell phone bill.

Ref: http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/disaster_haiti

As if Haiti needed more tragedy and hardship...

The news is reporting thousands of collapsed buildings in the capital. Even if Port Au Prince had a vast first world first responder system (it doesn't), that still means that most trapped people will have to free themselves (and by "themselves" I mean self-extrication or being extricated by regular folks). Even in the Kobe earthquake in Japan, most trapped victims were not freed by professional rescuers.

Reminded me of the light search and rescue training we received in the CERT-like class I took last year in my city. However, we didn't learn things like how to use leverage, cribbing, or the best way to get through concrete, etc. Definitely a very tough situation for the Haitians.

It's better to donate directly. If you text a lot of the money is probably siphoned away by the phone company.

That is the absolute truth. Let's keep the victims and responders in our prayers.

Jeff,
If you go you take care of yourself!

Agreed, certainly. Although I've found references to carriers waiving fees for the Red Cross in the past, I don't know if that's the case in this instance. There are also the fees charged by this company which appears to run the program (http://www.mgive.com/Pricing.aspx).

But having said that, I imagine that there are some who live on their cell phones that might not give otherwise.

The American Red Cross actually gives this text "HAITI" advice on their website - http://newsroom.redcross.org/2010/01/12/disaster-alert-earthquake-in-haiti/. So it could be that the fees are waived, I don't know.

If you want to direct yo0ur contribution you can slso give to their International Response Fund, instructions also on the Red
Cross site, or http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main.

CNN is reporting that the Haitian prime minister says the death toll may be several hundred thousand!!! These sorts of numbers often tend to overestimate (just look at the numbers thrown around last summer for H1N1 versus what has happened so far) or even purposely exagerrated for effect, but if reality is anywhere close to that number, that is pretty hard to wrap your brain around.

Just what that poor country needed, an earthquake.

Ten million people, many/most of whom were starving before it happened. The main hospital collapsed, no strong services.

Poor, poor people.

Sue

"As World Looks to Help Haiti, Scammers Sit Poised"

"Two that are trustworthy are:
-- Texting HAITI to 90999: The U.S. Department of State's Web site suggests texting "HAITI" to "90999" to donate $10 to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts. The $10 will be charged to your cell phone bill. Or you can go online to organizations like the Red Cross and Mercy Corps to contribute to the disaster relief efforts.

-- Texting YELE to 501501: On Twitter, musician Wyclef Jean, a native of Haiti, notes, "Haiti needs your help text YELE to 501501 and 5 dollars will go toward earthquake relief." Yele Haiti is a grassroots movement Jean has set up to inspire change in Haiti through programs in education, sports, the arts and environment."

Sue

[quote=NightHiker
I didn't see anything about that on the Red Cross website (maybe I didn't look closely enough) but I did see that scammers are already capitalizing on the disaster
[/quote]

The Red Cross does give the text "HAITI" option to receive donations, but it also points people to their International Response Fund for donations too. I suggest that when in doubt, donate directly to a fund.

from http://newsroom.redcross.org/2010/01/12/disaster-alert-earthquake-in-haiti/

12:30am (1/13/2010) You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti.

6:20 pm The American Red Cross is pledging an initial $200,000 to assist communities impacted by this earthquake, and is prepared to take further action as local responders assess the situation. As with most earthquakes, we expect to see immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support.

The American Red Cross is accepting donations through our International Response Fund.

... and I found out that for the text "HAITI" option to give $10 to the Red Cross, 100% of that donation goes to the Haiti relief operation. Mentioned on a local Red Cross twitter page, http://twitter.com/SeattleRedCross.

However you give, you would be helping many who are in need.

Absolutely no offense taken. I'm all in favor of a healthy amount of skepticism :-)

It may interest folks to know that the text HAITI method of getting $10 to the Red Cross Haiti relief fund has already yielded in excess of $800,000 in donations. That's a little bit of good from a whole lot of really good people. I don't speak for the Red Cross I'm just a volunteer, but let me say thank you, it does a heart good to see people step up and help out strangers in their time of dire need.

And the Red Cross has upped its commitment to $1 million from the earlier $200,000 commitment. No doubt more will be on the way.

Gawd, these poor folks hardly had a pot to p--- in before; now that pot is smashed to smithereens and buried under what's left of their infrastructure. It's such a mess; where do you start?

Don't know about you, but I'm going to take a moment to kiss the ground and thank my lucky stars. And then, I think, some extra dollars to MSF.

I was listening to World Radio this morning interviewing a man who had lost one daughter under their house and whose second daughter had both legs shattered to the point bones were sticking out through her skin and her scalp had been tore off. There were no pain meds available for this little girl. She was screaming in the background

Now multiply that by thousands.

Dear God.

-Blast, sick to his stomach

ALL fees are waived for the Red Cross haiti donation.
If you donate $10, the red cross gets $10.

The Washington Post has a photo gallery with some astounding, and gruesome, depictions of the devastation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...ST2010011401110

Although very unlikely because of our building codes in California, still, it got me to thinking--even if I spread stuff around between where I live, work, my car--what if all of them were stuck under a few tons of concrete rubble like so many of the buildings in Port Au Prince? In other words, even a preparedness-minded Haitian could still have ended up with nothing. Even burying a cache in the ground wouldn't help if a hillside denuded of all vegetation slid down and buried it.

Did anyone see that video of some mine or other excavation site? You see the first couple feet of a big dump truck sticking out of this huge wall of light colored dirt that towers over the truck. Apparently there are two more dump trucks and their drivers under that huge pile. A lone guy in a loader is scooping out dirt, but you get the uneasy sense that the wall of dirt is simply going to come crashing down on the loader as soon as he digs away enough dirt from the bottom or a big enough aftershock hits...

It's hard to imagine the devastation and suffering until you see the pictures.

No offense meant to Mr. Buttle, er, Tuttle!

Here's a press story about Credit Card companies taking a lot off the top of donations: As Wallets Open For Haiti, Credit Card Companies Take A Big Cut. Card companies apparently almost never forgo these profits.

Broadbandreports ran a story yesterday saying that Verizon, T-mobile and AT&T had agreed to forgo their fees for SMS donations. No word on Sprint.

A little more information:

The Huffington Post has an article stating that the major credit card companies have agreed to not skim money off donations to *some* charities. Each card has a different list of charities they don't skim. This is through the end of February only.

This is the first time Discover has ever agreed to not skim, and it's for Red Cross only.

The credit card companies normally skim $250 million a year off of charities.