Monday, January 18, 2010
Save Haiti Edition
Circulation TBD

Melanie Altarescu Jafar Close to $7k raised for Concern Worldwide and Haiti relief efforts last night at our favorite bar, Professor Thom's. Cheers to our family + friends!

Gazette Comment

There is a silver lining to this terrible crisis.

While the devastation in Haiti is awful and almost unimaginable, the response has been heartwarming on many levels as you all have been given an outlet to express your generosity and your global perspective, as well as an opportunity to feel good about truly making a difference in the world. I am reminded of the Civil Rights movement and the anti-war movement of the 1960s when I see you all educating yourselves and then using your myriad skills to organize, publicize and produce events to raise awareness and funds.

Your skills today are, of course, far more technological than ours were, and I cannot help but think of Tom Friedman's flat world as Facebook postings and Tweets from the scene of the devastation educate and move us all and are then used to raise money at fundraisers and otherwise. Texts alone have now raised $11 million in contributions to the Red Cross. (Text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti.)

The news media will leave the scene and we will all go back to far more mundane concerns, but the hard work in Haiti will not end any time soon. Presidents Bush and Clinton have been given the job to continue to raise the funds that will be necessary to rebuild the country and the lives of its citizens, even after the glare of publicity is gone. I hope and trust that you all will continue your efforts, whether in respect of Haiti or other areas of vast need, for the reminder of your lives. It will be good for the targets of your generosity and very good for you all as well. LP

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“Let’s remember that while charity has a mixed record helping others, it has an almost perfect record of helping ourselves.” Our Basic Human Pleasures: Food, Sex and Giving, Nicholas Kristof, NYT Jan. 17, 2010 (http://tinyurl.com/yg3s4k6)