Yesterday my co-worker Cristina and I decided that we needed to do something to help the people in Haiti affected by the earthquake. After less than 12 hours, she and I had created vigil and donation drive that took place in Union Square. It was so great to be able to put together something so impromptu and have it be successful! We raised $118.45 in 2 hours of holding signs and asking people on the street. There was definitely a mix of reactions to people, some of which surprised and saddened me, others were warm and grateful for our presence. We decided to put the money that we raised towards planning a larger more formal fund-raising event to benefit 1 or 2 beneficiaries--perhaps an orphanage and the Red Cross or Yele Haiti.
I watched a new segment with Wyclef Jean who is in Haiti right now with his wife, and the death toll they are estimating is 500,000 people. Honestly, I have a hard time fathoming such absolute devastation. While out asking for donations I had a man holding a sign "Jesus is coming" and yelling at me "Haiti's people are going to Hell! God was ridding the world of their sins--all the babies of Haiti will die!" and it shook me...I know he obviously had some mental stability issues, but that such hatred exists within a human mind deeply saddens me. A nice man walking by at the same time shook his head, came over to me and said, "just ignore him" but it was hard to ignore. A woman came up to me later and thanked me for helping her people...we're all people, shouldn't we all feel some sense of obligation and responsibility to help in any way we can?
It's the least I could do to take a few hours of my day and collect donations. I am excited to start planning a real fundraiser event! I have musicians, spoken word artists and hopefully a skit..maybe a big name actor if I can pull it off...now I just have to organize and mobilize!
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