Help For Haiti

I don't usually watch the news, any by don't usually, I mean never. I never watch the news unless I happen to be at my in-laws' house at news time, or if I see on Twitter that something significant is going on, like the Balloon Boy hoax. The last time I watched the news, I found out that two men that I know were arrested for child molestation. One was a teacher whose classroom I taught in while I was in college, and one was a preacher that I have known for most of my life. For the most part, the news is nothing but bad news, and I would rather just not know about any of it. Ignorance is bliss, right?

I had heard that there was an earthquake in Haiti, but I hadn't seen anything about it until this morning. I hadn't looked it up online or clicked the TV over to CNN to see what was going on. I had no idea how devastating it was, how many people had died, how much help was needed. I honestly didn't want to know, but then bloggers began to write about it, and my curiousity grew. I had to find out what all of the fuss was about, and I am so glad that I did.

I have never given to any kind of charity or cause before, especially when I don't get anything in return. I rarely even buy Girl Scout cookies because they are $3 a box. My husband has made me cheap. But today, I gave. I didn't give much, and it doesn't take much, if we all give just a little bit. Even if you only have $1 to spare, it is more than most people in Haiti have right now. They have lost everything, and they didn't have much to begin with, but you can help them to survive. Never has it been so easy to give as it is today. You can give from right where you are sitting. Here are a few ways:

You can text the word "Haiti" to 90999 and $10 will be donated to the Red Cross disaster relief fund for Haiti.

Or you can text the word "disaster" to 90999 and $10 will be donated to Compassion International's disaster relief program. The charge will appear on your next phone bill

You can also go online to donate any amount to Compassion International, the American Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and Samaritan's Purse.

There are also a few bloggers you can visit who will donate money for comments that you leave on their site. For every comment on this post, the Pioneer Woman will donate 10 cents to the top three mentioned charities, and also she is giving away 2 $500 donations to the winners' charity of choice.

Kelly of Kelly's Korner is urging you to donate, and if you do and leave a comment on this post that you did, she will donate $1 for every comment up to $1000.

There is also a Hope For Haiti blog which is holding tons of raffles to benefit Haiti. Each $1 donation gives you one entry to the raffle of your choice. You can enter as many times as you want, and there are some awesome prizes.

Please help in any way that you can.