From Here to Haiti

I know that you are all in the prime of your lives and would consider a Friday night at home to be the 12 dimension of Hell. BUT...if you were home last night, you would know that the stars united and aligned (which is something that never happens in Hollywood) to bring Hope for Haiti, a telethon complete with singing and....OK, to be quite honest, I didn't watch it so I don't know what else. That's right, I found the one channel of 219 channels that did not show the telethon.

Dear HGTV,
I heart you and your House Hunters (not to be confused with Ghost Hunters which is just a waste of time and intelligence) programming, even if you did air re-runs and I knew exactly who chose which house the whole time. It was still better than seeing Justin Timberlake in a vest.
Grazie,
The Miller Household

I know, I know...I should be grateful that LA is joining together in a moment of peace and solidarity to show and raise support for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. What I do not appreciate is the fact that sometime (maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow...but soon) they will return to their Hollywood lives, complete with 12 elite cars, 11 hair stylists, 10 maids a-milkin'...well, you get the idea and forget about those who are suffering. Except for maybe Brangelina because they do seem to have a genuine passion for those in need. (How Angelina ever ended up with Billy Bob Thornton is completely beyond my realm of logic). I know that in 2 months, the TV cameras will be gone and the celebrities will have moved on to the next world crisis in hopes of boosting record and movie sales. And the Haitians will still be wandering through rubble, abandoning the only home most have ever known, and battling violence because when our military leaves, it will disintegrate into survival of the fittest (or the ones with the most fire power). So, sorry Hollywood...I just can't back your Me-a-thon with my time or my checkbook. But I can back someone who truly makes a difference.


Enter: Mandi @ Mandi Speaks. Full disclosure: I am a relatively recent follower of Mandi's blog so I don't know all the details, but I consider myself to be a pretty good judge of character (OK Mom, ex-fiance #2 was a big mistake...I blame the pot). Mandi is a registered nurse who worked in Haiti some years ago, but then life happened, as it tends to do. She married, she had kids, she couldn't return. Until now. She has been given an opportunity to return to Haiti as an RN and provide what they need most...medical care. I want to go with her...I want to stow away in her Samsonite and nibble on Ritz crackers until we land. And then I want to gather up the first dozen children I see and bring them home with me. But I can't. We will have to go through all of the appropriate channels and waiting periods to realize that dream. I can, however, help send Mandi to Haiti. She's asking for donations for the plane ticket. As I type this, she's raised $163 of her $1000 plane ticket. Any donations above or beyond that will go directly to Heartline Ministry's Haiti Relief Fund (if you click on that link, you will see that their biggest needs right now are prayers, funding, and medical staff). She will not use any of this money for her own personal use, aside from her plane ticket.

I don't discourage texting donations to Red Cross or the IRC, I'm merely saying that sometimes you don't know where that money is going. You're sending it and hoping that an accountant is not fudging the books and a PR person is not using it for fundraising. You give it to help the people in their dire situation. This is a chance to make a direct impact. It can't get any more direct than helping to send someone to Haiti to put hands and heart to work. It's like going to the farm and picking the strawberries. And who doesn't love that??

I urge you to pop over to Mandi's blog because in all of her infinite wisdom, she has written a post explaining just who she is, spelling it all out much better than I ever could. To the right is a widget that connects to Paypal, where you can donate securely. If you have time, please scroll down to her next post where she confirms her plans to go to Haiti and asks for your help. I know that many of us have already given toward this disaster....but if you have anything left perhaps you will consider Mandi's mission.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We're on day 6 of rain with at least 2 or 10 more to go. It's dreary and soggy, but we're warm and dry with a pantry overflowing with food and no one pointing guns at us to take it. Could we be any more blessed?