Helping Haiti

Today, a mom I met through the local Mothers & More group I belong to held a fundraiser to help Haiti. She ran a playgroup from 4 to 12; parents could just drop off their kids and, later, make a donation. She's planning to hold a couple more in the next week.

I was so glad she did this. I'd been planning to spend time this weekend looking into the best way to give money, and this was one simple way. We left the kids there at 6, then we went food shopping. I know, we are getting entirely too wild and crazy and must be stopped.

A couple hours later we went back to get the kids, and this is how we found Max. "He took everything purple," Sabrina reported. We made a donation and left as Max screamed bloody murder because we made him take off the purple hat and tutu. I am game to get him lots of purple stuff, but I draw the line at tutus.

I just e-mailed the mom who did the playgroup to thank her, and let her know about a very worthy organization that I'm going to be donating more money to: Partners in Health (PIH). PIH has been working in Haiti for more than twenty years, as well as eight other countries; it brings modern medical care to poor communities. I like that it already has a presence in Haiti. You can donate directly on the site in increments of $10 and up, just click on the button at right.

Let's all try to do what we can; the death toll of the earthquake may reach 200,000.

Update: If you want to see how much money any charity or notprofit actually gives out to people, after administrative costs, visit GuideStar.