The American economy is far less robust than it was in late 2004 and 2005. Donations for Haiti relief made by Americans, individuals, foundations and corporations, are lagging the amounts raised after Hurricane Katrina and the SE Asian tsunami. Our list of donors and totals by category is at this link.

Comparisons between the American fund raising results for Haitian earthquake relief and the efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the Southeast Asian tsunami are inevitable. Private giving by Americans, individuals, foundations and corporations has always been generous. Our economy is significantly weaker than it was in 2004-2005 and that may be the biggest factor affecting giving to date.

Some of the historical numbers include money raised by churches. Those collections have happened but have not been reported publicly as far as can be determined for the Haiti relief effort.

Here are the current results as recorded on this site. The column titles are links to the articles on that topic.

	HAITI QUAKE	HURRICANE KATRINA	INDONESIAN TSUNAMI
Date:	Jan 12, 2010	Aug 29, 2005	Dec 26, 2004
Plus 6 days	$156,044,390
Plus 7 days			$207,882,580
Plus 11 days		$632,783,990	$401,784,551
Plus 13 days	$306,797,596		$456,916,726

This table will be updated as the donations continue for Haitian relief. Obviously there is quite a ways to go to catch up to the levels from Hurricane Katrina or the tsunami.

Patients are being treated outside in a make shift hospital at St. Michael Hospital on January 17, 2010 in Jacmel, Haiti. Jacmel is located on the other side of Haiti with a city population of 50,000. Their Hospital was destroyed by the earthquake and is treating patients outside the hospital. About 350 people have lost their lives in Jacmel due to the earthquake that hit the region on January 12, 2010 according to Emmet Murphy Chief of Party ACDIL VOCA. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock)

The record keeping is not intended to be complete, but only to illustrate the giving that Americans routinely do when there is a disaster. Our numbers will not tie to totals from other sources because we are just producing a snapshot of the outpouring of donations.

This is today’s update for fund raising numbers for the relief of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The subtotal reflects the sum of American individual donations, corporate donations and donations from foundations.

The numbers in this table are from a PDF file prepared daily using available information from the Internet. It is not intended to be complete. That link is here.

Many companies are also matching employee contributions along with their donation.

The list is not intended to be complete. For example, all of the Roman Catholic parishes in the United States have held special collections for Haiti relief but we have been able to locate the total from only one diocese. There are at least 194 dioceses and 18,280 parishes so there is a considerable amount of money yet to be noted.

Chief Hospital Corpsman Rioni, a member of a Maritime Civil Affairs team, gives water to a severely dehydrated child. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Monique Hilley)

The record keeping is not intended to be complete, but only to illustrate the giving that Americans routinely do when there is a disaster. Our numbers will not tie to totals from other sources because we are just producing a snapshot of the outpouring of donations.

Individuals	$103,307,231	I
Corporate	$79,497,159	C
Foundations	$18,660,000	F	$201,464,390
NGO	$42,041,000	N
Governments	$356,274,000	G
	========
	$495,079,390

This is today’s update for fund raising numbers for the relief of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The subtotal reflects the sum of American individual donations, corporate donations and donations from foundations.

The numbers in this table are from a PDF file prepared daily using available information from the Internet. It is not intended to be complete. That link is here.

Many companies are also matching employee contributions along with their donation.

The list is not intended to be complete. The amount raised through the text messaging process is not current. It shows the generosity of the American people.

I highly recommend that you bookmark this link. It is the on-going story of some Americans, ex-military and firefighters and medical personnel, who packed up a rucksack and went to Haiti.

“Normal” is a word I wouldn’t really use down here, but I suppose we are developing a little bit of a morning routine. We packed medical supplies, reviewed our possible missions for the day, mixed up oral rehydration salts, and headed out to the general hospital. (No soap opera jokes, please; we’ve told them all several times.) Our numbers and logistical requirements have grown to the point where we were traveling in two tap-taps and a rental Suzuki from the DR…

We looked carefully at the buildings as we drove along (occasionally being cheered on by locals shouting “We love you! Thank you!”)

Please read all the entries, and follow the link to donate. This is America at its best.

This is today’s update for fund raising numbers for the relief of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The subtotal reflects the sum of American individual donations, corporate donations and donations from foundations.

The numbers in this table are from a PDF file prepared daily using available information from the Internet. It is not intended to be complete. That link is here.

Many companies are also matching employee contributions along with their donation.

The list is not intended to be complete. The amount raised through the text messaging process is not current. It shows the generosity of the American people.

This is today’s update for fund raising numbers for the relief of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The subtotal reflects the sum of American individual donations, corporate donations and donations from foundations.

The numbers in this table are from a PDF file prepared daily using available information from the Internet. It is not intended to be complete. That link is here.

Many companies are also matching employee contributions along with their donation.

The list is not intended to be complete. The amount raised through the text messaging process is not current. It shows the generosity of the American people.

The print and broadcast media have swarmed into Haiti and now the news is filled with their perception of what isn’t getting done. I would like to address some of these in order to bring some perspective to the wails from the media.

IT IS A DISASTER
When there is a disaster, people are at risk and people die. That’s why it is called a disaster. We need to recognize that a great many people have died and many more are going to die despite our best efforts.

PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY
Most of the population of the Port-au-Prince area relied upon charitable aid from outside Haiti for part or all of their daily existence. Let’ engage our brains and look at some numbers.

Assume that a million people in the PaP area have no food. That means that they need at least one meal today, and tomorrow, and so on. If a plane brings in enough supplies for ten thousand meals, that means that 990,000 people go hungry today and 1 million go hungry tomorrow.

Supplies have to be produced. If all the disaster relief storehouses are emptied, more must be manufactured, shipped and purchased. That takes time. And, let’s not forget that millions of people elsewhere in the world also need those supplies and they were in line first.

In Haiti’s climate, people need about 2 quarts of water per day. 2 million quarts of water every single day. Just where do the bottles for that water magically appear from? The water tankers?

PEOPLE ARE TRAPPED
Most of the people who were buried alive by the earthquake will die. There is no way to rescue all of them. If, somehow, every search and rescue team in the world had arrived just after the quake, most of those trapped would still die. Urban search and rescue takes time. Every building must be examined and searched carefully and safely. There are tens of thousands of buildings in ruins in the quake zone. It is and was never humanly possible to search even a fraction of them before people that are trapped die from lack of water or their injuries.

PEOPLE ARE INJURED
For every injured person you need several aid workers. If 100,000 Haitians are injured in Port-au-Prince, you would need 300,000 plus aid workers just to treat their injuries. The workers need places to work, places to sleep, food and water and medical supplies – all of which are in very short supply. And all of that material is needed on top of the needs of the people in the city.

MEDIA
The media in general have little understanding of logistics. Their food comes from a supermarket or a restaurant. They sleep in hotels. They cannot grasp the concept that in a DISASTER all of the necessities people need to survive must come from outside the area. They cannot understand that food does not come from the supermarket but through a long supply chain that stretches back to a farm somewhere.

Port-au-Prince has one airport, all of Haiti has one airport that can handle the large freight carrying planes. It is a bottleneck that cannot be changed. Until the port is safe to use, all the supplies are coming through the airport.

With the arrival of the United States military, some other options open up. Only the United States has the ability to move supplies to beaches, small landing strips and open areas. That said, it only changes the bottleneck from a very large one to a large one. Most media have no grasp of the amount of material a ship can carry when compared to even the largest plane. Only a working seaport will begin to make a dent in the human need that we see in the news.

Until we have Star Trek’s transporters and food synthesizers, shipping and travel will take time and food must be grown, processed, packaged and shipped.

HOW TO HELP
The thousands of charities that work in Haiti or want to work in Haiti are all competing for your donations. Give to those you have given to in the past and trust. Give through their local branches. Ask if they need volunteers because if you can fill a slot locally, they might be able to free staff to assist in Haiti.

Pray for the people of Haiti, the aid workers and everyone who is working so hard to save those we can. And, pray also for those we cannot save.

The numbers in this table are from a PDF file prepared daily using available information from the Internet. It is not intended to be complete. That link is here.

The subtotal reflects the sum of American individual donations, corporate donations and donations from foundations. Many companies are also matching employee contributions along with their donation.

The list is not intended to be complete. The amount raised through the text messaging process is not current. It shows the generosity of the American people.