How to Help Haiti
Amanda VenturaIssue date: 1/21/10 Section: Blogs
|
Whether you've watched the endless footage on television or listened to the speeches at the Golden Globes, you've heard the calls and pleas for you to make a donation to Haiti relief. But as college students, with a new semester of tuition and book costs, our pockets are anything but weighed down with extra change for those in need. And that's why we at College Times made it our mission to find easy ways for students to aid in Haiti relief. The results are convenient, delicious and entertaining.
At its simplest, helping Haiti is like helping someone win "American Idol." Seriously. There are 21 organizations and nonprofits registered with the Mobile Giving Foundation that allow you to make a donation via text. Mobile Giving said the charity's lines of communication are sometimes beating to a pulse of 10,000 texts per second, and the foundation announced at 8 p.m. January 21 that its relief donations had reached $30 million.
All you have to do is text "HAITI" to 90999 and a $10 donation will be made to the Red Cross. The charge will show up on your next phone bill or be deducted from a pre-paid balance. It really doesn't get much easier than that. Other text options are "Give10" or "SAVE" to 20222 to aid Direct Relief International and Save the Children, respectively. You can also give a $5 donation to the International Medical Corps by sending "Haiti" to 25383. For a complete list, go to mobilegiving.org
On Friday, January 22, tune into "Hope for Haiti," a global telethon organized by George Clooney. It's two hours long, commercial-free and will have musical performances from artists such as Rihanna, Coldplay, Taylor Swift and Jay-Z. It begins at 7 p.m. and will be taking over most of your favorite channels, anyway. Some of the participants include MTV, the CW, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox. You can give to the telethon by texting "Give" to 50555, or you can pre-order the "Hope for Haiti" album or the two-hour telecast from iTunes.
On Monday January 25, you don't have to feel guilty about stuffing your face while watching the footage of Haitians begging for food, because Dilly's Deli and La Bocca Urban Pizzeria and Wine Bar , anything but strangers to the cooking for a cause phenomena, are taking a cut out of their day's revenue to help relief. Both establishments said their fundraisers are a good way for students to make donations.
"When you're a student, you may not be in a position to give money, but you may be in a position to go out and have dinner or a drink with friends," said Amanda Robertson, who helped La Bocca organize its fundraiser. "So as long as they're going to be doing it anyway, they may as well be doing it for a cause."
You can stop by any of the four Dilly's Deli locations for lunch, dinner or a snack on January 25 and have 25 cents for every dollar you spend go to the AmeriCares relief fund, which focuses on medical supplies. Dilly's Deli has two Tempe locations, one at ASU, a Scottsdale location that serves breakfast and another in Chandler.
La Bocca on Seventh Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe is donating 20 percent of its revenue from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. to the Red Cross. You can make reservations at 480-967-5244.
Oh, and the calories don't count when you're eating for a cause. So it's practically win-win.
Bring the canned food in your pantry to the Scottsdale Jean Company to get $10 off any $100 purchase. The store will match any food donation you bring in so you're really giving twice what you came with.
Knowing where your money is going is just as important as deciding to give it. You can visit charitynavigator.org for more information on charities and the specific aid they offer.
Be the first to comment on this story