Saturday, January 23, 2010

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?

19 comments:

  1. First of all, the only singer (IMHO) that did well before I turned it off and watched The Proposal (for the 4th time) was Beyonce. It was really that bad. But I do hope they raised a lot of money for Haiti and not for their own personal use. If I go any further this will become a rant. :p

    As for Mandi, I 100,000% support her. I can not wait to see her blogs about how she took care of the innocent forgotten children of Haiti and how much more blessed her life is because of it. She inspires me on all kinds of levels but this humanitarian side of her is so admirable. She is a blessing to this world.

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  2. This is a great cause - you know what really drives me nuts though. Here we have people willing to help, ready to help, and ready to get their asses over there and do some good and yet they can't afford a damn plane ticket to get there. When are the freaking airlines going to step in so people can get there to help. I think that right now flights for RNs, Doctors, Relief workers etc should be free, or the cost of gasoline. They don't have to be first class, these people are already selfless. I hope that Mandy makes it there ASAP.

    P.S. Madonna needs to eat a sandwich and stop going to Brittney Spear's hair stylist. she. looked. HORRIBLE!

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  3. First, yes to everything you said about Haiti and fundraising, etc.

    But second, ever watch House Hunters International? Ever notice that two-thirds of the time the people are a retirement-aged white guy with a wife in her 30s and two or more rugrats--who are young enough to be their father's grandchildren? Squicky. End non sequitur.

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  4. on my way to mandi's blog now!
    i love house hunters. but i have to admit, i also love ghost hunters. sorry, i am a sucker for pretty much anything paranormal.
    i didn't watch last night either, but i agree with everything you said. like kallaydascope, i won't start a rant :)

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  5. Hey awesome post. Last night was a complete toss up for us- house hunters our gangland. We chose the latter. can't wait to go check out mandi's blog.

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  6. i think it's beautiful that she's going to help...i'm going to check out her blog.

    that's one of my dreams...when i get my RN license, i want to help the less fortunate or those who have been touched by tragedy. i hope i can make a little difference somewhere in the world...

    i love your post!

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  7. I didn't watch the tele-a-thon either, but in my heart of hearts, I would like to think that the stars all came together with good intentions, not to self-promote. I also think that they are not unlike the rest of us in some ways. I know we all have Haiti on our minds and we want to do all we can to help, but what will you be doing/thinking about this time next month? Will you have returned to your normal life and your comforts of home while the pain you felt about Haiti starts to ease up? While they return to their "12 elite cars" and "11 hair stylists", I will most likely have returned to my "12 pairs of shoes" and "11 purses". So, we aren't exactly like movie stars, but on some level, I think we do have some things in common. Maybe they give $100,000 (not to mention drawing national/worldwide attention) while I can only give $100, but let's hope and pray that it all comes from a good place in our hearts. And, if I could go to Haiti and help, I would, but I think I would be in the way. And I am sure all of these stars hadn't planned on spending their Friday night doing a tele-a-thon, just like you hadn't planned on your TV schedule being interrupted. Plus, I am pretty sure it took a bit of effort to rearrange a busy schedule and appear on live TV for a good cause. And kudos to Mandi...I hope she gets her plane ticket soon, those poor people will be lucky to have her. And just to clarify, I love you and your blog, I just looked at this a little different. Keep up the good writing! XOXO

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  8. Allyson........ You made me cry!! Dang it! lol! thank you so much for your incredibly kind words. I am beyond touched that someone who's never met me (in person) would go out of their way to support me and my passion, my heart. Thank you so so much.

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  9. It's great to know that people like Mandi are out there. She is an inspiration.

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  10. Thanks for this link to her blog. I was JUST talking about this last night with M...about how I was all meh because I sent some money to Red Cross, but then they have all of those administrative fees and I wish I could find a charity that I knew ALL my money was going to the cause. It's so frustrating. Mandi sounds like such an amazing person and I hope that she raises the money she needs quickly so that she can get over there and do her stuff.

    I didn't watch the telethon either, but Alicia Keys was on there sounding like someone was skinning a cat while she was singing.

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  11. I didn't watch the telethon either.

    It's pretty easy for celebrities to come out for a night and perform thus garnering more attention and probably more $ for themselves. Then they can cut a nice big fat check (a huge tax write off)and be done with it.

    I find the efforts of Real People much more compelling. Thanks for the link!

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  12. You clearly have a heart of gold and so does Mandi. I think it's such a wonderful thing that she's able to go to Haiti and help out in person.

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  13. So, I saw the telethon has raised $57 million AND COUNTING...UNICEF, Oxfam America, and Clinton-Bush Haiti Foundation will benefit. One night of horrible singing brought in over half of the amount that the US Government pledged. Does no one remember Band Aid and "We Are the World"? I guess that was all about the stars too...And, since I itemize my taxes, I plan on adding up my contributions for the year as tax write-off, as well.
    And as far as the stars garnering more attention for themselves, THAT'S WHAT THEY DO FOR A LIVING!! That's the way they can help. Beyonce sings, she isn't a nurse or doctor. The stars used their God-given talents to raise money to help, just like the nurses, doctors, will be using their skills in Haiti (in person). The famous may get more attention for what they are doing, but its better than doing NOTHING! And Allyson, thanks again for the link to Mandi's blog, she is truly amazing and heartwarming. And it was good to hear from you yesterday. ;-) Miss you!

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  14. It's sad. My hubby wouldn't let me donate because he doesn't know where the money ends up....

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  15. A great post and god bless you and Mandi.

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  16. I am going to repost/tweet this!

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  17. Great post! I feel the same way about celebs and I didn't watch the show either!!

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  18. Wow - thanks for letting us know about this. I'm on my way over to check her out.

    And I think you're crazy for not wanting to see JT in his vest. He's yummy. Just sayin.

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  19. I donated right away and yes to all that Kelly said. I do not know if any of you know Lady Gaga, she is doing a concert of her own and all the proceeds go to Haiti. I know she is far out there.
    underneath she seems like a truly real person living her fantasy. I saw her interview with Oprah and Barbra Walters.
    Great blog.

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That's it, let it all out....