Thursday, January 31, 2008

Philanthropy Thursday

It's been a while since I've had a Philanthropy Thursday, and I have found something that is the perfect reason to bring it back.

Haiti.

Have you been reading the news banners online about the Haitains who have to eat dirt on a consistent basis to fill their stomachs? Did you know these people have to buy dirt cookies? Here is a good article to start with.

What surprised me the most was the limits I encountered when trying to find organizations you could visit to help Haitians in need. I found two, and the second one showed pictures of Brad and Angelina in Haiti, wearing the aid organization's t-shirts, so I figured it was legit.

How sad is that? Brangelina is the reason I knew it was real? Is there anyone else out there who knows of outlets for us to help these people?

It is truly atrocious.

Today I am going to savor every non-dirt bite that goes into my mouth and thank God for the fact that I have so much I have to cut back what I eat. I wonder how many Haitians my kitchen could feed right now.

14 comments:

Suburban Correspondent said...

Partners in Health (http://www.pih.org/home.html) was founded by Paul Farmer, the physician profiled in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains. Dr. Farmer is a Harvard-trained physician who has dedicated his life to helping the poor have access to decent medical care, particularly in Haiti, where he is based. Check it out!

And, thanks, Jen, for bothering to bring attention to these things.

Nancy said...

^5 Brangelina

For all the slicing and dicing they are given in the press ... we can't fault them, they put their money (and bodies) where their mouths are.

Thank you for links, I'm off to read them.

Jen said...

Nancy - you're so right. We skewer them for their personal lives then watch as they travel the world making a positive impact. I think it's sad that they are the only ones apparantly doing this...for the most part.

Sub. Corr. Thank you for the links.

Magpie said...

As soon as I saw your post in Bloglines, I thought of PIH - SubCorr beat me to it!

Anonymous said...

Dirt cookies? That is so disturbing. We certainly are going to have to do something about this.

Speaking of third world food nightmares, have you seen the movie "Darwin's Nightmare?" If not, you should. Eye-opening stuff.

-andi

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I was going to point you to Partners in Health org too. My guess it that's the most well-known one because of Paul,who is truly an amazing guy.

Beth Cotell said...

I read this article in my local paper yesterday. It made me so thankful for all that I have.

Thank you for reminding me of this!

Fairly Odd Mother said...

Wow. Dirt Cookies. Makes me want to send them a whole batch of chocolate chips. Thanks for the links.

And, as for Brangelina---I wish every celebrity with gazillions of dollars did stuff like they did, instead of buying shoes, cars and 'bling'. (and, I'm willing to bet, they could do both without much effort).

Melissa said...

This weighs on my heart, too. Thanks for finding reputable relief efforts and sharing links!

Girlplustwo said...

good lord. unfathomable.

i'm going to link this at our upcoming Just Post roundtable.

furiousBall said...

wow, i'll never complain about eating frost bitten waffles again

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

It is important to realize we are among the luckiest people on earth when it comes to getting our basic needs met.

Kristi B said...

Thank you for bringing back Philanthropy Thursday! and what a worthy cause.
I'm always thrilled too, when celebrities use their status to do good things. It kills me how much they get criticized for it sometimes.

insanemommy said...

Brad and Angelia are two of the only celebrities that lend a helping hand with no strings attached. Thank g-d for them.