Silicon Valley groups, individuals organizing relief efforts for Haiti
by Mark Gomez
San Jose Mercury News
Donations for the relief effort in Haiti have been pouring in from throughout Silicon Valley as children, adults and companies have responded to the devastating earthquake that struck near the capital of Port-Au-Prince.
From the latest innovation of text donations to the old fashioned writing a check, valley residents have already pledged tens of thousands of dollars to help the stricken country.
"The money is coming in so fast," said Cynthia Shaw, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter. "Locally, people have been very generous. Some companies are offering matching donations. The big thing we've noticed is the text to donate phenomenon."
Silicon Valley residents have taken advantage of an effortless donation process that allows them to make a $10 donation to the American Red Cross by texting "Haiti" to 90999. The money is automatically added to their cell phone bills. As of Friday morning, Californians had donated about $1.5 million by texting their donations, Shaw said.
The American Red Cross has committed $10 million for immediate relief efforts in Haiti.
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund is matching up to $100,000 in donations from donors, corporations and the community. The organization met its first $50,000 match in 24 hours, with the matching funds provided by the Irene S. Scully Fund. The second $50,000 matching program, announced Friday, was provided by the Lieve Roelandt Foundation. Donations will be sent to organizations working to provide critical assistance in Haiti, according to the Silicon Valley foundation.
"We're seeing the generosity of our community from all quarters," said Emmett Carson, CEO and president of the community foundation, adding that donations have been received from corporations, individual donors, kids and adults.
Former KGO TV reporter Rigo Chacon, through his Abrazos and Books non-profit, is organizing a $100 per person reception for Haiti relief from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose. Tickets will be available at the door or by calling Chacon, 408-623-7036. Proceeds will go to the American Red Cross.
Other Silicon Valley companies, including Yahoo, have created matching donation programs for employees.
Some Bay Area residents have created their own personal giving pages to help raise money. Sheila Dowd of San Jose, who along with Cat Lincoln and Stefania Pomponi Butler operate Clever Girls Collective, a social media consulting group, wanted to make a small contribution. Because the women often have weekly online events, such as watching "Project Runway" and tweeting about who should be voted out, they used the opportunity to raise money online.
The women set up a giving page through firstgiving.com and promised to match $250 in donations. They got the word out to family and friends through Twitter and Facebook.
"Money is tight, but what do know how to do is organize people online," Dowd said. "We were watching Project Runway and at the same time make it socially conscious. We encouraged all of our folks to give money."
By Friday afternoon, the women had raised $620 and planned take advantage of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation's matching donation program.
The Stanford University School of Medicine, the Department of Medicine and Stanford Hospital & Clinics have offered a $25,000 matching program to the medical center community. Those funds will support patient care at Hopital Albert Schweitzer in Port-au-Prince, which withstood the Tuesday quake and is functioning as a major treatment center for mass casualties. It remains one of the few institutions providing care for the many thousands of individuals injured in the calamity, according to a Stanford press release.
The San Jose Giants will be donating $1,000 to the relief efforts.
Plastic Jungle, a Mountain-View based company, is allowing people to turn gift cards into cash donations for the American Red Cross Santa Barbara County Chapter.
Not all of the Bay Area's earthquake relief efforts are donation-driven.
At MedShare's 32,000-square foot distribution center in San Leandro, a 40-foot container filled with requested medical supplies was scheduled to ship to Haiti on Friday, sponsored by Rotary International. The supplies were donated by 20 Northern California hospitals.
The FBI is warning people to be wary of online scammers who are seeking donations through unsolicted e-mail requests.