Jennifer Garrett
Haiti update
By Jennifer Garrett
Donations from Rosen Hotel Foundation
The tourism and hospitality community continues to support the Haiti relief effort almost two months later. The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, whose city is home to many Haitians and is closely linked to the country, declared February as “Miami Tourism Cares” month. All funds go to the American Red Cross. Additional phases are in the works for long-term relief.
Orlando’s Rosen Hotels and Resorts’ Harris Rosen Foundation has been involved with bringing charitable relief to Haiti since 2004. Their post-earthquake efforts include a $1 million goal, which they were halfway toward at the beginning of February, and a long-term housing project called Little Haiti Houses that will fund compact, hurricane and earthquake resistant homes for the country.
The MPI Southern California Chapter (MPISCC) is collecting shoes and donations for the Haiti earthquake victims at its Annual Educational Conference and Tradeshow, Friday, March 12 in L.A. Donations will be given to Soles 4 Souls, a non-profit organization that collects shoes from footwear company warehouses and individuals to distribute them to people in need around the world.
Faith-based groups continue to lead the way in providing relief. World Vision, a Christian organization based in Seattle, is the largest U.S.-based international relief and development organization and has led a huge effort in Haiti. This might not surprise many in the faith-based community familiar with such international organizations as World Vision, Compassion International, Samaritan’s Purse and Salvation Army. In his February 28 New York Times column Nicholas D. Kristof described a rise in international aid given by evangelicals in the last decade as well as possible misconceptions about liberal vs. evangelical giving.
“In Haiti, more than half of food distributions go through religious groups like World Vision that have indispensable networks on the ground. We mustn’t make Haitians the casualties in our cultural wars.
A root problem is a liberal snobbishness toward faith-based organizations. Those doing the sneering typically give away far less money than evangelicals. They’re also less likely to spend vacations volunteering at, say, a school or a clinic in Rwanda.
If secular liberals can give up some of their snootiness, and if evangelicals can retire some of their sanctimony, then we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity, like illiteracy, human trafficking and maternal mortality.”
What is your take on Kristof’s comments? Read his entire column here.
Links:
Chile earthquake donation information
Compassion International Haiti Update
Samaritan’s Purse Haiti and Chile Relief
