Staff Writer at Mashable
About 5 hours ago
About 5 hours ago Want to help the people of Haiti who lost homes, friends and family members in the 7.0-magnitude earthquakeyesterday? Well, there are several places online where you can easily and quickly donate without even leaving your desk.
Be careful, though. Some callous people have set up fake charities soliciting donations that won’t really help anyone. The U.S. Better Business Bureau runs a site where U.S. donors can verify that a nonprofit is legit before donating.
Donate on the Web
You have a lot of options on the web; here’s our list of trusted organizations. All of them will accept credit card donations through online forms.
The American Jewish World Service has set up the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund to respond to the crisis by supporting a network of organizations it works with.
AmeriCares has pledged $5 million to Haitian quake relief, and is soliciting donations to a general emergency disaster relief fund to help it accomplish that.
CARE is sending relief workers into the city of Port-au-Prince and needs funds to support its efforts. Suggested donations range from $50 to $1,000, but you can name your own amount if you prefer.
Catholic Relief Services has an office in Haiti, and luckily it’s still standing even though one of its neighbors collapsed. The organization is accepting donations of any amount.
Direct Relief International has committed up to $1 million in aid through two on-the-ground partners, and is sending containers of medical material aid.
Oxfam has 200 people on the ground to deal with the crisis, and began its efforts by trying to get clean water to victims of the quake. One of its staffers recorded a podcast describing the situation. You can donate on theAmerican or UK site, depending on where you’re located.
Yele Haiti is sponsored by prominent Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean. You can donate through its website or via text message as described in the next segment.
UPDATE: Google Support Disaster Relief is a website Google has updated to respond to the crisis. Google has promised $1 million in support, but the site is also an easy place to donate money to either UNICEF or CARE. It also provides hospital addresses and links to sources for news on the situation.
Donate With a Text Message
Musician Wyclef Jean has used Twitter to rally web users to contribute to his grassroots Yele Haiti earthquake fund. He’s urged his followers to text “Yele” to the number 501501. If you send the text, the organization will receive $5. The amount will be added to your next cell phone bill. Consider retweeting Wyclef’s updates and get some of your Twitter followers to donate, too.
There’s another texting option spreading through Twitter. You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 via the Red Cross. Thanks to ABC News for pointing these out.
UPDATE: Reader Suggestions
Our readers have also suggested Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF and SOPUDEP for our readers in Canada, Ben Stiller’s stillerstrong.org, the United Nations World Food Program, an orphanage near the site called OASIS, the orphanage-supporting organization Hearts With Haiti, Partner’s in Health, Latter Day Saints Philanthropies, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, AMURT, Missionaries of the Poor, World Vision, Convoy of Hope, Compassion International, Episcopal Development & Relief, the Lambi Fund of Haiti, and Food for the Poor. We’re unable to investigate and verify all of these organizations, but feel free to look into them for yourself if you’re looking for other options.
Do you have any other ideas about how to help the people of Haiti? Let us and your fellow readers know in the comments.
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