Haiti: Making sure Giving means Getting

January 15th, 2010. By AbiK

I just passed a car—a minivan actually—with an American flag waving from its antenna, along with a Haitian flag. It was one of the most poignant images I’ve seen in the midst of the Haitian earthquake crisis. Certainly there are many, many more images online and on t.v. that make the devastation hit home, as much as it can hit home from so many miles away. But when we leave our homes, and drive down the street, it’s easy to forget what’s going on in Haiti—there are no flashing screens of Anderson Cooper reporting amid the victims and debris.

That’s why that one, lone image—the Haitian flag—was so moving.

But it also spoke to the desire we all have to DO something. To show our support. And for many, the only option—and often the preferred option vs. sending goods or ourselves–is to send money.

There is no shortage of organizations seeking donations right now for Haiti. Unfortunately, not all organizations are worthy of your donation and some in fact are complete scams.

All of us at LawyersAndSettlements.com urge you to be wary of any organization soliciting funds from you directly—whether by phone, email, or otherwise. One source that can help you in assessing the validity of charitable organizations seeking donations for Haiti is the Better Business Bureau—they have a page dedicated to answering your questions about giving donations for the crisis in Haiti.

Our hearts go out to all the earthquake victims in Haiti as the search efforts continue.

Tags: Haiti

This was posted on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.