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This appeal has already raised some money, and
our first distribution of food
occurred on Haitian Mother's Day, May 24.
Read more here.
Thank you to everyone who donated!!
As
international relief agencies rally to respond to the recent terrible
disasters in Burma and China, there's an ongoing catastrophe just beyond
American shores that's receiving precious little attention. When most
Americans will be receiving a 600-dollar bonus from the U.S. government,
tens of thousands of children in Haiti -- a boat ride away from our
shores -- will be struggling to stay alive by eating cookies made from
baked clay.
It the past
several months, this poverty-ridden country has experienced a doubling
of prices for the most staple of foods, like rice and other grains,
putting these fundamental necessities completely out of reach of most
Haitians, and threatening millions, especially children, with
starvation.
Doubling food
prices are hard on everybody, but when more than half of Haitian adults
make less than 40 cents a day, and when rice now costs over $2.50 a
pound, food has become simply unobtainable, one real meal per day for
children a luxury precious few can afford. Forty cents per day will buy
no food, but can buy eight cookies made from dirt, and it is these pica
that many have turned as a last resort.
Before this
current crisis, Haitians had the third lowest per-capita daily calorie
intake in the world. Now, in a country where malnourishment has ruled
for decades, starvation has stepped into its place. Now they are
threatened with total devastation.
And so, Healing
Art Missions, of Granville Ohio has begun a campaign encouraging
Americans to spend their "economic stimulus" checks on food relief for
Haiti.
We would like
to ask Americans who can afford it to spend their "economic stimulus"
checks on relief for these terribly hungry people. The government has
offered Americans this $600 dollar handout in hopes that they will spend
it on frills: wide-screen TVS and ipods, and thus prop up an
economy that has fallen victim to the same administration's economic
policies.
Some Americans
will need these checks just to get by. But for MOST of us, this is "free
money," and we are expected to spend on things we may WANT, but don't
NEED." Sure, it costs us more in fuel to drive downtown to the
restaurant for a hamburger and fries, and I'm sure this is inconvenient.
But most of us receiving checks can count on having our basic needs met
pretty easily. In Haiti, people struggle, every day, to keep their
children alive for another 24 hours.
Here's the
point: if you spend your windfall handout on an ipod, you'll have an
ipod. The economy will not improve (at the very best, there will be a
slight uptick in low-paying jobs in places like Wal-Mart and Best Buy).
But I can
guarantee that if you turn this check over to Haitian food aid, you will
save lives. Absolutely, certainly, unequivocably. AND you can use this
as a tax deduction, so you'll still gain something....
HEALING ART
MISSIONS is an organization that has been involved in medical care,
education, food, water and other projects in Haiti for well over a
decade. EVERY PENNY donated to this organization goes directly to
Haitians: we have no paid employees, we pay ALL expenses out of our own
pockets. You can trust that this donation will turn directly into
life-saving food for people in desperate trouble.
We regard every
Haitian as a valuable, respected member of our world community. We don't
tell them what they need: we ask what we can do. We admire the strength,
the amazing endurance, and the remarkable capacity of the Haitian
people-of all beliefs-to live in conditions of extreme poverty while
retaining their community spirit, their family values, and their
remarkable dignity.
It won't take
many of us: if 1,000 people send their checks to us, we will have
$600,000 to spend: that will buy over 300,000 POUNDS of rice. It will,
as I've said, immediately save lives.
And it will
send a message to the the world, when it may be most needed: that
Americans care about their neighbors, care about feeding children, care
about positive, non-violent solutions to the problems of this small
world.
Send your
checks made out to "H.A.M. Haiti Food Relief" and send to:
Healing Art
Missions
311 N. Pearl St.
Granville, OH 43023.
Or donate by credit card using the PayPal button below.
In either case,
we will send you a receipt that you can use for tax deduction purposes.
You will literally save people in far more need of help than almost all
of us.. And we will tell the nation about your generous and sensible
spending.
Thank you so
very much.
Richard A. Hood, Ph.D
Richard Downs
for Healing Art Missions
Donate
via Credit Card
We now accept
donations via credit cards, using PayPal's secure transactions service.
If you click on the button below, you will be taken to a Healing Art
Missions section of PayPal's website, where you can make a donation that
will go straight to Healing Art Missions' account. After you are
done, you will be taken back to our website.
Thank you for
your support!
Please note:
PayPal's service does not cost us anything in fixed charges, but PayPal
does charge a small transaction fee on each donation (1-3%, depending on
our volume of transactions). For more
information e-mail us at healingartmissions@msn.com
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