Sunday, January 17, 2010

Haiti: special needs.

I've been dilatory in posting about the disaster in Haiti, not out of lack of concern, but because I believed I had nothing of value to add by way of blogging, as opposed to contributing, which I did through Episcopal Relief and Development, an organization I know to be trustworthy and effective. I made my contribution in memory of my friend Charles A. McCrann, who was in his office on the hundredth floor of One World Trade Center when the first plane hit on September 11, 2001. He left a lovely Haitian American wife and two children.

My Brooklyn Heights Blog colleague T.K. Small posted this comment on BHB:
This afternoon I spent some time creating my own fund-raising campaign for contributions to the Haitian relief efforts. Specifically, it concerns me that people with disabilities are at the absolute bottom level of society and, even under the best of conditions, experience unimaginable poverty.

Through some research I was able to find an organization which has expertise and a track record of providing relief to people with disabilities. Based upon the recommendation of a personal friend of the legitimacy of the organization, I made a contribution. But still I wanted to know more and called the organizer to get a better sense of what they were doing. Very quickly I realized that this is a credible initiative. The organization is called:

Portlight Strategies, Inc.
2043 Maybank Highway
Charleston, SC 294
http://www.portlight.org
My Frayfriend Hipparchia also posted this on her blog.

If you've already given, thanks. If not, please do.