The White House is encouraging that contributions be made to the Red Cross to help earthquake victims in Haiti. You can donate 10 dollars to the Red Cross ( charged to your cell phone ) by texting Haiti to 90999. Click on the White House Link for more information: http://www.whitehouse.gov You can donate 5 dollars to Wyclef Jean's organization, Yele.org by texting yele to 501501. Click on the Yele link for more information: www.yele.org
You can get water to Haiti by making a donation to Oxfam. To donate to Oxfam, click on the following link:
The State Department has provided the following number to help people contact family in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747
Sending remittances to loved ones in Haiti is the most direct way to help.
If you do not have direct links to Haiti, you can contribute to the following organizations: Fonkoze Partners in Health The Lambi Fund Unicef The Salvation Army Haiti Action Haiti Reborn Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees
Earthquake victims are still in need of tents and portables. Organizations such as www.ahomeinhaiti.org say they need your help to meet those needs. Also, urge authorities in Haiti to convert churches, schools, and other large edifices to shelters during the upcoming hurricane season.
TPS for Haitian Families
Storm-ravaged and earthquake battered Haiti cannot absorb any more deportees from the United States. Haiti needs immediate relief, and one of the most effective ways for the U.S. to give this relief it is to grant Haitians living in the United States Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Make a phone call, send a letter, or send an e-mail to President Obama to urge him to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to the approximately 30,000 undocumented Haitian workers in the U.S. You can send the e-mail to http://www.whitehouse.gov. The White House comment line is (202) 456-1111
January 2009
Dear President Obama:
Congratulations on becoming the 44th president of the United States of America. You now hold the hopes and dreams of the American people and of much of the world in your hands. May you bear this tremendous responsibility with courage, wisdom, and compassion.
I was happy to read in the White House Agenda that one of the goals of your administration isto double U.S. foreign assistance in an effort to reach the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty and hunger around the world in half by 2015. That is a worthwhile goal, andI think one of the most effective ways of reaching it is to empower people to help themselves. The U.S. already does this by the granting of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to workers from impoverished countries such as Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. These workers in turn stabilize their impoverished homelands by sending remittances back home.
I would encourage your administration to extend TPS to deserving nationals from another poor nation that is currently being overlooked. This nation is Haiti - The United States’ first and oldest neighbor in the Western Hemisphere. An estimated 30,000 undocumented Haitian workers in the U.S. currently provide an indispensable lifeline to many impoverished families in Haiti. Sending these workers back home to Haiti will only increase the despair and instability in that nation. Granting them Temporary Protected Status will allow their families to receive inflows of cash that will build communities, reduce poverty, develop markets, and generate wealth. TPS will help give Haiti a foothold during these difficult economic times.
TPS is a cost effective way to increase U.S. foreign assistance as it essentially gives nationals from the most devastated nations a reprieve during which they can help themselves. When appropriately granted,TPS is atriumph of American Diplomacy anda victory in the fight against global poverty. I urge you to act in favor of granting TPS to our deserving neighbors from Haiti.
