Blessed.
You and I are blessed.
In our warm, comfortable homes, we sip ridiculously expensive coffee, and type away on our lap top computers while watching Glee on our DVRs. Even though we all have challenges and hardships in our lives, we enjoy must of the best that life has to offer.
Yet a mere 700 or so miles off of the Florida coast, an entire nation that had next to nothing has now been left with absolutely nothing. Tonight in Haiti, more than 100,000 are feared dead, and that is just a shot in the dark since no one really has any idea how to start counting the missing. In the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, there are little to no medical supplies, food, water, or shelter. Millions of people have been left homeless and sleep on the streets among the rubble, fearful for their lives.
I haven’t been able to turn off my TV all day. The scenes of the nightmare in Haiti are devastating, and the news from that country is just getting worse. I made my donation to the American Red Cross this morning, and I sit here wishing that there was more that I, Lindsay, could do.
My friend and advertiser, Beki, of The Rusted Chain (formerly called Pampering Beki), is doing more. She has dedicated one of her beautiful handstamped necklaces as a fundraiser for the disaster relief in Haiti. For every necklace she sells, Beki will donate $10 to Compassion International, which is working to assist the affected children and families in Haiti.
You and I are blessed, I tell you.
To purchase your necklace and help support the victims in Haiti, please visit Beki’s Etsy shop here and buy the Blessed necklace. Beki will be relisting this necklace each time one is purchased, so if you go to her site and don’t see one, don’t panic. Either bookmark the page and check back in a few hours or contact Beki directly through her Etsy shop and she will list one for you. Beki will continue donating $10 from the sale of each Blessed necklace as long as there is desperate need in Haiti.
In addition, I thought I would add a MckLinky below so that you could post a link to your favorite charity that is specifically helping with relief efforts in Haiti. In a country where most citizens live on $1 a day, there is so much need for those of us who are much more fortunate to help left them up.
We are blessed.
When making charitable donations, please make sure you are not falling for one of the scams that will inevitably begin popping up soon. CharityNavigator.org has put together a list of reputable organizations who are assisting with relief efforts in Haiti. I will check the organizations listed below and remove any that I have an uneasy feeling about.
thanks for sharing this. it's so easy to get caught up in our every day lives and forget how good we have it.
Lindsay, you are 100% right. We are blessed. Thanks so much for posting this and thanks to Beki for an innovative way to raise support for Haitians.
Lindsay- Thanks for posting this. Tonight was the first time I've been able to catch up on the situation and the photos are horrific.
I saw via @RedCross on Twitter that you can send a text to 90999 with subject "Haiti" to donate $10 for the relief. Cell company doesn't keep any- all goes direct to Red Cross, and I assume just shows up on your bill. Just another easy way to donate for those looking for something. here's their Tweet:
RedCross
Text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate. 100% of your $10 donation passes thru to @RedCross for Haiti relief. Your cell carrier keeps nothing.
-Amy
I am not seeing the necklace in her etsy shop. I'd love to purchase some of the necklaces for myself and gifts. Thanks and God bless.
I am blessed. No matter what we have to endure, it's always nice to have a reminder of the things I've been given in my life. Thank you for that reminder tonight.
My Dad is an accountant for the Red Cross. I never really knew the magnitude of what they do with the donations they receive. It's run strictly on those donations. They provide so much,… food, shelter, clothing, blankets,…and do so with such heart. Donations this year were more than half what they were last year. Give to the Red Cross.
Beki put more up! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38502957 As soon as she sees that they are all sold out, she'll add more. I'll try to post a new comment here whenever I see that she's relisted some.
Lindsay, what a great idea to help with the relief efforts, thanks to Beki too. I tweeted and facebooked to help spread the word, will try to post about this too later today.
Thank you for posting this! I was just sitting here wondering what I could do to help out and you made it super easy! I just purchased the last one listed, so I hope that Beki is doing well with her efforts. You are right, we are blessed, and I am inspired to do this same thing with my custom made scrapbooks, off to get that started. Thanks again, Lindsay! Have a blessed day!
if you don't mind, I am going to link your post up to my blog as well… I will be visint Beki soon, what an honorable thing to do. thanks so much
I love this…I've also been watching the footage non-stop. My aunt & uncle and some other family members just arrived in Haiti on Monday. They go every year to our "Sister Parish" to help provide them with supplies and aid them with technology. Right now they are trying to teach them about agriculture (my Uncle is a farmer). Fortunately, we received word that evening that they are okay, but there's no telling when they'll be able to get home. I so appreciate you giving these links to help make it easier to give. The people there had next to nothing to begin with…I can't imagine the despair they are feeling right now…
I would love to buy the necklace, do you have a link for it, i can't seem to find it on etsy!
Thank you SO much for allowing others to link to charities helping the people of Haiti. I have a small Etsy shop and online store. I am committed to giving away 10% of all my proceeds. Thanks to the links posted by others, I chose to donate my entire 2009 tithe to a charity that honors my faith and will help the children of Haiti. It is all due to your blog post.
Beki is out again, please post when she has more. I posted the info about the Haiti txt on my fb to share with family and friends. Thanks for the info!
Lindsay,
I wanted to thank you for your post regarding the devastation in Haiti. Your blog was the first I follow to mention Haiti out of about 15 that I follow every day. Your heart is in the right place. (I am still un-nerved to read on one of my other favorite blogs, of her new car and not a mention of the earthquake at all. Shame on her) Thanks for recognizing how popular your blog is and what a tremendous audience you have and encouraging us to reflect on all that we have and to encourage us with links to donate. You truly value all that "home" is…
Beki has more listed this morning! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38559655 She sold well over 50 yesterday! Can you believe that?!?
Joanne- Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
Speaking of "blessed", you can hop over to Myra's blog and for every comment that is left, her and her hubby will donate $1.
http://myblessedlife.net/2010/01/help-for-haiti-a-goal-a-need.html/comment-page-1#comment-4845
In addition, I have linked you blog as well as a few others to mine.
http://everbrooke.blogspot.com. Hope for the Hungry, (LINK has been added above #22). 100% of the donations are going to Haiti.
Amen lady. My choice…UNICEF…is already there. Thanks for posting this!