Oh, my...I hadn't connected the news with knowing that your kids were from Haiti. My prayers for you all and their Haitian families!...and all there, actually. Lisa_A and I were just saying how much we are blessed and how little we have to worry about in comparison.

O, I've been so concerned for those folks over there (and here who have loved ones there). It's heart-breaking. My prayers are with all affected ...
~Missy

Thanks, rhome.

We have gotten some good and bad news today, but mostly it's the not knowing that's hard. The orphanage our oldest Haitian child is from is completely destroyed, but ALL of the kids got out safely. Unfortunately, some of the adults were killed.

Our daughter's birthmother works as a nanny at another branch of the orphanage (which IS still standing), but we haven't been able to get word whether she is there and safe. I tried calling her today and it just rings and rings... She has four other children still in Haiti who live with relatives, and I have no idea where they are and if they're OK. I suspect their mom doesn't know much more than I do.

Our two 4-year-old Haitian kids obviously don't know anything about what's going on, but our older daughter is almost 11, and this is very difficult for her. She alternates between crying, being angry, and being in sort of a stunned silence. We've limited her TV watching, but I think what she imagines may be as bad the images on the screen...

It's so surreal to see pictures of places we've visited on our trips there looking like war zones. I just can't get my brain to accept the reality of it.

Anyway, none of this is kitchen related so I should probably quit posting about this here, but I *am* concerned about donnakay and her son. I think he is a missionary there or something. I hope she responds soon and lets us know how things are going.

Priye pou Ayiti!

Thinking of all affected by this tragic event. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you!

I'm glad to see people posting about it here. In unfathomable tragic siutations like this, I doubt GW will care this isn't kitchen related.

I have a friend with a cousin on a humanitarian university trip. All of the students have been found except her cousin and two professors. They are insane with worry. I don't even know this girl and yet, I keep googling to see if there's any news about her. I can't imagine what her family is going through.

Worldmom, I hope your loved ones are able to contact you soon.

I keep praying for everyone down there. From the news, it looks like a lot of help is down there already...and more coming!!!

Keep on posting!

Kompy

I couldn't read this thread and NOT post. I continue to pray that those with loved ones get news soon. The worst is waiting and not knowing.

I will pray for safety for all concerned.

Gd Bless and keep you and your loved ones safe.

After days of being so busy with the tragedy in Haiti, and not checking on GW, I saw the first "Haiti" post tonight and weighed in. Then I saw this. Thanks for asking about our son. He is fine. My husband has only been home for ten days (he stayed a week after I came home so they could have a motorcycle adventure together). Kurt's office/house (Mennonite Central Committee) is still standing, but the wall around it fell down, so I'm sure that security will be an issue. He had given up his last apartment to a darling new married couple so they could have a view and cool breezes. They were on the fifth floor, and the quake hit, and the building pancaked all the way down to rubble. They are miraculously alright, with some gashes and bruises. They lost everything (we had taken lots of loose tea from her mom's tea shop, along with DVDs and other goodies their folks had sent to us so we could deliver them in time for Christmas). Kurt sent them home today, to Portland.
What does a human rights/reforestation/local development organization do in the face of this disaster? Everyone becomes a relief worker. Kurt says he's most worried about shock among his Canadian, European and American staff...so many dead bodies, so much crying, and so on. But he's soldiering on and we are now able to hear from him twice or three times a day, through a satellite internet hookup and phone. We feel so fortunate. So many people have prayed and have sent support.
Yes--our lovely kitchens become just that...stages where we live our lives. The hours when we didn't know if Kurt was alive became so unbearable that I just leaned on my granite and wept. But we are rejoicing now, and my husband is hopping on one foot, dying to get back to Haiti and help.

Thanks so much for asking. It's been a terrible couple of days. Just tonight we both said how, for the first time, we can identify with families who have a loved one in the military---the uncertainty, the constant concern.

Thank you for posting, donnakay. I'm so glad to know that your son and his staff are safe and well What a blessing!

I just got done posting missing person info on yet another site. I hope someone will see it. I've had a constant headache, I can't concentrate, I've been short with the kids, and I've had dreams and nightmares about it (I'm horribly claustrophobic, and in one dream, I had to go into a tiny little space with the help of a bulldozer - ack!). I just can't quit worrying.

The kids and I put Haitian flags and giant banners up on the front of our house yesterday and today to urge people to donate to the Red Cross. We live on Main St., so everyone in town has to pass our house and I figured we'd take advantage of the free advertising opportunity. :o) Tomorrow, we and some other people in town with Haitian children are being interviewed for a story in a local paper. I told them we'd only do it if they promised to include a push for donations in the article. These are little things, but they're helping me pass the time and helping me feel like I'm doing *something.* I want to go to Haiti so badly, I can hardly stand it. My French and Kreyol are passable and I think I could actually be of help, but I don't dare leave my children right now.

So, to all who are reading this, whip out that cell phone and text "Haiti" to 90999! :o) It sends $10 to the Red Cross (100% goes to the Red Cross) and the $10 will be added to your cell phone bill. So many of us are whining over granite choices and which hand-scraped floor will like best complement our Rohl faucet and Viking duel-fuel range. We can spare ten bucks.

Go do it.

I am in constant prayer about the people of Haiti! What does it mean to not only lose your loved ones and limbs, homes and hearths, livelihoods and lives but also the heart of your country? Special prayers are also in order for you -- Worldmom and Donnakay -- and all others who have ties, blood and otherwise, to Haiti. You are not alone. And, through our loving dialogues, prayers, and actions -- neither are our brothers and sisters of Haiti.

Donnakay, I'm so glad to hear your son is okay. I can't even imagine those hours you waited to hear.

The Mennonite Central Committee is a Wonderful organization, and it is our number one charity that DH and I donate to on a regular basis. You must be so proud of your son for doing the work he does.

Worldmom - I would like to donate to the Red Cross, but I don't understand what that means to text to Haiti. Can you explain it better for text dummies like me?

Thank you all for posting about Haiti....I feel so helpless too, I did donate last night to the Red Cross. I pray for aid to actually reach the people soon and pray for all that have lost their loved ones, I could barely watch the news tonight!! God Bless!!

squigs - if you have a cell phone, you send a text message with the word "Haiti" to the number 90999. This will charge your phone $10, and all of this $10 goes to the Red Cross. Your cell phone carrier keeps none of it. Once you've sent the text message, you'll receive a message asking you to confirm the charge. You reply with the word "yes," and that's it!

Alternatively, you can go to www.redcross.org and donate there. :o)

Thanks for the help! Last I heard, they've raised over $6 million. A drop in the bucket, yes, but it's a start!

My heart caught in my throat when I read this thread's title. I am so glad to hear that there has been good news for many of you and I hope that those of you still waiting to hear will soon breathe a big sigh of relief. I just can't imagine what the last few days have been like for all of you.

Red Cross is a wonderful organization to support but there's another I'd like to mention, Medical Teams International. We donate yearly to both of these worthy organizations. I know our most recent donations will surely be used well. It doesn't really seem like enough to do nothing more than give cash but it means so much to those in need and to those who help them. Bless these very special people who deliver help and hope where needed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Medical Teams International

SO glad to check back and read the news from DonnaKay. Sorry for your worry over the last days, but happy how it turned out for you. I hope and pray we'll be reading good news from you soon, too, Worldmom.

So so so glad to hear the news about Donnakay's son. So many already poor families now have more tragedy. I can't imagine the scared, devastated people of Haiti who are living this nightmare. My daughter's grade did a small bake sale at school today for the Haitian kids and I have given to a relief organization, but I wish I could do more. Yet, I know that if everyone, really everyone, gave just a little, it would add up to a lot!

I like to also mention Hopital Albert Schweitzer--a great organization and hospital/clinic/school outside of Port au Prince. My husband spent a few weeks there in 1996 as a physician and right now they really need funds. All money goes right into the hospital, no middle man.

Thanks, and my thoughts are with all of you with family and friends in Haiti.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hopital Albert Schweitzer

Firsthouse, please give your daughter an extra hug from us! Honeychurch, it's so true--there are many wonderful helping organizations so worthy of any donations. Worldmom, I've been so interested in your comments, too. The children of Haiti are breathtakingly beautiful. How fortunate you are.
This morning our local paper ran this story:

I can't wait to sleep this weekend! But our constant thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti. Love to you all...you've certainly been extended family to us over the past nine months of planning our kitchen, and now that it's done, the continued caring really means a lot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our son's story

I just had to post on this thread also. My heart goes out to all the people in Haiti and all their loved ones around the world touched by this tragedy. Donnakay I'm glad your son is ok and worldmom my thoughts and prayers are with you and your children. Like pp have already said this does make so many other things seen insignificant.

I agree that these disasters (and the everyday reality that many around the world endure) put my kitchen obsessions into proper perspective. Thoughts and prayers to all those in Haiti and with loved ones in Haiti. And prayers too to the relief workers. I can't imagine what they're confronting. I've donated to the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders, but the situation there is so chaotic. My hope is that relief and aid is able to arrive and be of help.

Thank you all so much for the donation info. I've been hesitating, just wanting to be sure it went to the best possible place. Saw the cell-phone Red Cross thing on CNN last night, so that's a no brainer. But thanks for the other suggestions. I'm going to try to spread it around a little bit.

Having lived through two natural disasters (Loma Prieta 89 earthquake in SF, and Hurricane Ike), I have to say, I learned a valuable lesson in the earthquake, which I wanted to share especially for the moms of Haitian kids... limit their tv exposure. Immediately following the earthquake, we sat around the tv, mostly in stunned silence, while we dealt with everything. It was nonstop coverage and after a week or two I realized that emotionally I was getting worse, not better. So when 9/11 happened and then Hurricane Ike, I purposely avoided the tv. It was definately a help. I would say let the kids make cards, etc., but be careful about them watching too much.

My thoughts and prayers are with your families and friends.

I wanted to add to the Red Cross donation tip. I heard on NPR yesterday that giving directly to the organization is a faster way for the org. to receive the donation. The cell phone companies wait until the customer is billed at the end of the cycle and payment is received before sending the donation to the org.

Worldmom ... Get trauma counseling for the oldest girl, and do minimize her TV time. She's acting normally.

Stay off the phone and let Haiti call you! It's easier to call out of a disaster area than call in.

My niece was in France when the SF quake hit in 89, and she was panic-stricken because all they were showing in France was SF in flames, and she couldn't get through to her mom. She finally thought to call me, and I had already heard from her parents.

I went through Mexico 1985 (in the USA) relaying HAM radio info from Mexican HAMs to the Red Cross here, to relay onward to relatives here. The tech school I was attending left the HAM studio open 24x7 for us to use.

My one indelible memory of that quake is a young blond guy from Mexico's largest TV chain broadcasting from in front of their collapsed building, icily relaying logistical information from affected areas, telling people how to turn off home gas tanks, showing tape from tours of city areas to squash rumors that XXX was in flames, telling people which hospitals were working, etc. He did more to prevent panic than anyone else. I hope Haiti can have one of him, but in French.

WorldMom I texted as soon as I read your post.

Thanks for asking. :-)

Donnakay, what a blessing your son is to the Haitian people in deciding to stay and help them rebuild lives after this terrible tragedy.

I saw your husband is director of pastoral services, it sounds like he is following in your husbands footsteps.

Worldmom, looking forward to hearing good news on your end with the connections to the birth families.

We have such neat people on this forum. Both of your families are in my prayers. I was just at a prayer group at our church last night and we extended much prayer for Haiti. My heart goes out to them. The pictures on the web look truly, truly horrific.

donnakay2009 - I am so glad to hear that your son is safe. He sounds like such a wonderful young man, compassionate and caring. Our thoughts are with the Haitian people and all of the others who are helping to alleviate their suffering.

worldmom - I wish you the strength you will need to help your beautiful young children feel safe and secure while you deal with the uncertainties of this tragic situation.

First I want to say that my heart and prayers are with you and the entire country. Also, I want to let others know that in addition to sending money, the red cross is also looking for volunteers. My mother is a nurse and so she is hoping to go soon. When she called, they told her they also need doctors, O.R. nurses and construction workers. With all of these renovations, perhaps a few of us might know someone that doesn't know their construction skills would come in handy over there. Please share this with the people that you have been working with. God Bless.

Donnakay,

Thank you for allowing us to share in your son's story. Our prayers are with him and the people of Haiti, as well as those over here waiting to hear something, worldmom. As a mom whose children happen to be adopted (baby from Oregon last Christmas, Donnakay), I can vouch for the fact that they are yours, heart and soul, from the time you first know about them. Praying that you will know something soon.

I love this site.....my prayers will continue for all of the Haitian people, here or there. We have made our donation, but am also taking my sons on Monday to a location where they will help package meals to send. It is a small contribution, but I hope someone will benefit. Donnakay - what a gift your son is and so glad that he is ok. worldmom -- you will especially remain in our prayers. I hope you get word soon.

(((((((hugs)))))) and prayers to all. I am amazed at all the place in my life where people are affected by this horrific disaster.

Yes, our kitchen woes seem so small in light of what has happened.

I have been donating to Partners in Health (Zanmi Lasante), which is an organization that already has a whole bunch of doctors and aid workers on the ground in Haiti, as they run a bunch of hospitals there. It's an organization that I know puts as much of their funds as possible into the actual supplies, etc, and the officers have very low salaries, and actually often use their own funds for supplies and the like. I trust them,, for what its worth, and I know they are already there in Port-au-Prince since the quake; also since they have been working in Haiti for decades they seem like they will know the ins-and-outs of getting supplies in quickly better than some outside groups who aren't as familiar with the country. It seemed a way to make a difference soonest...

I've linked their web site below.

Although it's been said several times on this thread.
If you are able to help, please do!

My family lives in Haiti and thankfully they are ok. But for the many others in need, please send support if you are able.

My kitchen was finished yesterday, trival I know, but because of that, I now able to host a fundraiser to send money to the different charities. I told all my friends that wanted to see my finished kitchen, that they could come over but it will cost them $10.

Thank you for all the links. For various personal reasons I was uncomfortable donating to the BIG ones, but our family donated to HAS thanks to the link posted here. We are glad our money will go to a grassroots organization that already is out there helping, only sad it is under these circumstances.

Our family continues to pray for all those affected.

loves2cook4six, I agree with you regarding the big ones. But I get nervous about some of the small ones as well though.
My family has been involved local charity for the last 20 years, I feel comfortable donating to them, but for people that have not heard of them, I also recommend the big ones, because anything is better then nothing.

I heard last night that FedEx and some other agencies are sending packages for free to Haiti. The corruption at the postal service there is legendary (we'd send an Easter box to Kurt and he'd have to pay $40 to get it....grrrr. Gum, Peeps, Harry and David chocolates---typical Mom stuff). I hope they'll have a way to deliver supplies once the boxes get there. It sure looks chaotic right now. Kurt's latest update is the realization that this will be such a long haul, and there's so much trauma, emotionally, to everyone--workers and Haitians alike. His former co-workers and dearest friends were about to leave for the Dominican Republic yesterday, and decided they just couldn't do it. The guilt over "escaping" was just too great. So they're continuing to stay, with 25 people sleeping in their front yard. No one is sleeping inside, anywhere. It hasn't rained yet...but it will.
Again, thank you for all your support and great comments. You are truly a caring family of humankind! We all need each other. Blessings to all.

mcc.org is a great organization, with decades of relief work and a super track record in many impoverished countries.

There are so many wonderful organizations out there ready to send teams now. I"m sure every little bit that we can give helps, and all the organizations listed surely have need of resources to be able to respond appropriately and quickly. I am including the link to where our money is going just to broaden understanding of the scope of organizations responding. This group sent out one team almost immediately and will be sending others. Our church has sent teams to Haiti regularly so it is a place dear to many of our hearts. God bless you all!

Hi, Samaritan's Purse is another good organization that is already in Haiti. I believe that almost 90% of donations go directly to the need.

If you're in Canada, the Canadian Gov't has said it will match any donations at this time (to registered charities).

Info on Canadian Gov't matching donations

Samaritan's Purse Canada

Yes, it is a good idea to be wise about which charities we support.

My hubby and I have a group of charities we support yearly, including the two I listed above. I have to admit that initially we chose charities based on a personal connection. For instance, we support Medical Teams International because it's home-grown and a high school friend of hubby's worked there for many years. We support two others because we've been personally affected by the diseases they represent. There were times when we wondered whether those we supported deserved our respect and patronage.

A few years back I found a website that rated the charities based on the percentages of donations spent on programs versus fundraising and administrative costs. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark it but I did find two worth checking.

One is the Better Business Bureau, which provides a monetary breakdown of money in/money out so that you can see how much of what you send actually goes to the cause. Most charity watchdogs suggest that at least 80% of funds should go to the cause and the higher that percentage the better.

According to BBB, Medical Teams International spends 3% on fundraising and 2% on administration with 95% of donations going to programs. The American Red Cross spends 4% on fundraising and 6% on administration with 90% going to programs. I just learned, to my dismay, that one of the two disease affiliated charities spends 18% on fundraising and 9% on administration. That's $27 for every $100 donated. Not so good. Given our recent experience, I'm not surprised. As a thank you for our $100 donation, we received - by Fed Ex, no less - a reusable tote with their logo. I called to tell them that we were not pleased with this gesture, a waste of donation dollars in our opinion, especially when a letter of thanks would have been sufficient. We'll have to think hard about whether we want to continue to support this organization.

But I digress.

The other website that I found is Charity Guide, which seem to be a compilation of resources that vet charities.

As someone who is active in a local non-profit, I know that the above may not always give a full picture, especially if it's a new charity. We spent a large percentage of money our first year on fundraising paraphenalia and if we'd been judged by that first year, it would not have looked good. Since then, however, we've kept costs low and we're forever looking for other ways to save so that more of our fundraising dollars support the program.

As an aside, we always request to be left off an organization's mailing list, especially those that send out fat newsletters on a regular basis (such as the disease affiliated charity above), so that more of the donated funds can be spent on programs and not on paper costs and postage. Many charities now offer to send e-newsletters instead. If you regularly support a charity, ask if this service is available and help them reduce their overhead costs.

HTH

Hi again. An update: our son has now written about his first few hours after the earthquake. His blogsite has been going for three years, but this is his own account of what happened immediately following the devastation....I am so glad that so many of you have given generously to the above-posted organizations. Lisa A is so right--be careful, specific, and do your research. But so many organizations are worthy of your dollars, and prayers, too. Kurt says the relief efforts are very orderly, for the most part. He said people have been truly acting like small communities, taking care of one another. He's kind of stuck right now, coordinating water filtration and food distribution efforts, when he wants to be 'out on the streets,' but that's where he's needed.

Thanks so much for the link donnakay. Unbelievable.

Very humbling. Best wishes to your son to keep him safe and healthy. Thanks for posting this.

Yes, thank you! I've been wondering if Worldmom and family were ever able to get news of their loved ones.