Local Efforts for Haitian Relief (Arlington, Fairfax: sale, credit card, school)

[normie]

Here's a place to list local efforts for Haitian relief. I know a lot of churches and other organizations are holding events this week.

For example, there's a bake sale scheduled for Jan. 18,(8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) near Partlow's store in old Ashburn. The press release says all proceeds will benefit Food For The Poor, a charity that is already in Haiti and which guarantees that 97 percent of donations will go directly to earthquake relief. (This is according to the press release, if you're interested you might want to check a few places to make sure this claim is true.)

More details on the Ashburn bake sale Loudoun Times

Also, this Saturday Mario's Pizza in Arlington is having some sort of Haiti Relief Fundraiser. They'll give out a free slice of pizza for every cash donation.

[Deeman804]

For the younger crowd there will be a Haitian benefit at Recess Lounge on Tuesday
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/object2/351/19/s252902763585_7181.jpg (broken link)


Union Makes Strength: Fundraiser for Haitian Earthquake Relief
Location:Recess Lounge, 727 15th Street Northwest Washington, DC 20005
Time:5:30PM Tuesday, January 19th

[Caladium]

Local fundraisers make me nervous. How do you know the money will go to Haiti? And even if it all goes into sending food and water there, how do you know it will be properly delivered once it gets there? I think I'd rather just contribute to the Fairfax Rescue team.

[normie]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Local fundraisers make me nervous. How do you know the money will go to Haiti? And even if it all goes into sending food and water there, how do you know it will be properly delivered once it gets there? I think I'd rather just contribute to the Fairfax Rescue team.

I don't mind donating blankets and clothes to a local fundraising efforts after a disaster, but I tend to donate money to the Red Cross or some other well known charity. I hear Save the Children is a solid group that has been in Haiti for years and would know how to put donations to good use. BTW, I hear they don't really want blankets and clothes for Haiti. No way to distribute it.

[Flamingo13]

Not to say how anyone else should go but I personally went w/Red Cross myself, as well as my company that is offering to match because an employee's family lost everything and the company will match. I wish I could donate the clothing that I have here but I know at this time cash is what is needed.

[normie]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

my company that is offering to match because an employee's family lost everything and the company will match.

Wow, I'm glad to hear companies are doing that.

[justNancy]

I can't promise that the Haitian people will actually get the money, but one thing I've done in the past is donate my "Rewards" from different credit cards. For example, I had about 5,000 points on my Capital One Visa and donated them to Oxfam. That converts to about $25 in goods. I've also had miles from airlines that I knew I would never use. Although you can't give them away or sell them, you can make donations to charities like Unicef. So this is a way for people who are short on cash to make a contribution.

Just a suggestion.


Edit: Just make sure whatever site you get on is the official, secure one if you do it online. There are a lot of scams now.

[movingtodcfromseattle]

The school I teach at is collecting "pennies for Haiti". The drive ends tomorrow. You should have seen how excited my kinders were today when they brought their money down to the Kindergarten bucket. There seems to be a lot of money in those buckets. I think all the money is going to Red Cross, but I can't remember.

[justNancy]

I'm sorry. I didn't notice this was a Virginia forum when I posted earlier. I searched for "Haiti" and then saw the comments & added mine.

[normie]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I'm sorry. I didn't notice this was a Virginia forum when I posted earlier. I searched for "Haiti" and then saw the comments & added mine.

It's OK--it's a good suggestion for people in Nova, too.