(photo credit – AP Photo/Jorge Cruz)

In Haiti, A Desperate Hunt For Survivors

Haitians made a frantic search for survivors Wednesday after a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the capital of Port-au-Prince, even as rubble-filled streets quickly piled up with bodies.

Haitian President Rene Preval called it a catastrophe and said he believed the death toll stretched into the thousands, though no official accounting was yet available…[click here to read the full article on NPR].

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Reading all the stories on various news sites this morning (like the one I posted above) broke my heart.  After reading the article, Kimi immediately reached for her wallet, pulled out her credit card, and donated what she could to the Red Cross. Her generosity touched me and it motivated me contribute as well. Now I’m writing to hopefully motivate someone else.

NPR has posted a listing of various charities you can donate to. Not a full listing, but definitely something to get you started. Go look here.

I chose to donate to the American Red Cross and it seriously only took 2 minutes to do.  All you have to do is select “Donate Now” from the front page and select “INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE FUND“.

If you’re not near a computer, you can actually donate via text message! The State Department’s DipNote blog writes that “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. For more information, read the Red Cross’ press release on it.

Skip buying lunch today and donate $10 to the charity of your choice.

Filed under: News
Posted: January 13th 2010