Using social media to help Haiti earthquake victims - Together we can make a difference! - Richmond Social Media

Donate to Haiti earthquake victims, Do it NOW, Donate TODAY!

*A Call to ACTION*
By now you have seen and heard much about the 7.0 earthquake disaster that struck Haiti on Tuesday. Social media has been instrumental in getting the word out via Facebook and Twitter. All the websites I've viewed indicate that the best way we can all help is to DONATE money NOW! To support the huge, overwhelming effort to get life-saving water, food, and medical supplies to the earthquake victims in Haiti, we can all make a big difference if we donate "a little", and act TODAY!

According to CNN's Anderson Cooper live broadcast from Haiti last night, many of the Haitians that do NOT have life-threatening injuries at the moment - broken legs, etc., may die from infection, if more medical supplies are not received soon. Americans have always pitched in and risen to the occasion to help countries in need, and the response for Haiti has been great, so let's hope that the much needed money for medical supplies, food, and water get there soon.

Here are some helpful links for making donations and reading more about the disaster:
American Red Cross - International Fund
UNICEF Haiti relief fund
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
Mercy & Sharing - Giving Hope and Dignity to the children of Haiti
Earthquake fund - yele.org
Haiti earthquake: Twitter, Facebook help with donations through Yele, Red Cross

News flash:
AARP will now match any gift you make to the AARP Foundation Haiti Relief Fund dollar for dollar up to $500,000. Any amount you give will be automatically doubled and go twice as far to providing relief.
To help the Older Victims of the Earthquake in Haiti. Click on Special Matching Gift Opportunity.

For those older victims of the quake, your contribution will help provide life-saving, basic needs like water, food and shelter to those who are unable to reach emergency relief centers due to age, injury or infirmity.

It goes without saying, many of us in the United States have suffered through a job loss and the worst economy in years, in 2009. I know you may be thinking, I'm out of work, the bills are mounting up, and there is no job in sight - so how can I help? Let someone with a job or more money donate to the cause, I can't afford it, right? Wrong. On the best days in Haiti, with no disaster looming over them - this small densely populated country exits in abject poverty as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.

Think about it, no matter what your job or financial challenges are right now, if you live in the United States, on your worst day, you enjoy a far better lifestyle than most anyone in Haiti on a good day. For whatever small difference it may have made, I did something about it. I donated to the Red Cross - International Fund, the Mercy & Sharing (children of Haiti fund), AARP Special Matching Gift Opportunity, used social media to post donation links on my Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, ASocialMediaChampion4U blog, and Faceook fan page to raise awareness to help the people of Haiti.

I hope you'll join me with your donation today, and if you can't afford it, due to job loss or another reason, at least keep all the Haitian victims in your prayers. For all of you out of work and suffering through difficult times, I'll keep you in my prayers, and hope that 2010 will be the year you land a job and get back on your feet again.

For this reporter, there is no better therapy for temporarily getting over the "I don't have a job blues", than to find a way to help others less fortunate. I'm just another guy in "career transition", looking for that next great job opportunity, and hoping we all have a better year.

- Daulton West, Jr. , aka "DWestJr” on Twitter

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Using social media to help Haiti earthquake victims - Together we can make a difference!
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