Sunday, January 17, 2010

Haiti, And Your Money

When attempting to help the Haitians, it's worth asking some questions about a given relief organization's accountability and established infrastructure on the ground. I can personally vouch for two organizations: the Mennonite Central Committee (my former employer, here) and CBM (my wife's current employer, here). My wife was informed on Friday that the two hospitals CBM has partnered with in Port-au-Prince are both standing, to everyone's astonishment. They are, of course, overwhelmed. If you have been debating where to send your money, please give these groups some consideration.

3 comments:

DarkoV said...

WP,
Damn (darn! I mean)! Should have checked you out first before sending a contribution to these fine folks.

Well, fasting from lunch is a valid alternative so I'll be clicking on at least one of your suggested places.

Thanks for the head's up, sir.

DarkoV said...

Hey WP,
are you up to something? Initially, I opted to donate money to your wife's fine organization.
Five times I opted. Five times I got rejected, and then locked out.

Went to your former employer's site (which got an Outstnading rating by the charity index) and opted once. Accepted immediately with a "Thank You very much" and finished.

Hmmm, I wonder if your wife's organization knows you have this "scam" going with your previous employer? Well, all to a good cause, right, without paying attention to which bucket they'll be drawing from?

ps, I did send an e-mail to them asking why American charge cards weren't accepted.

Whisky Prajer said...

Wup - I was out-of-town and off-line for a couple of days, adding (I am sure) to your already shoddy impression of these fine people. I'm not sure why your bucks weren't accepted, but it might have been an American credit card issue. My original impulse was to link to the US site. Same people, same infrastructure, etc., just not, in the strictest sense, my wife's employers.

Ah well -- thank you regardless. Other opportunities will undoubtedly present themselves, unfortunately.