Helping Haiti Thru Fashion

Hi Lovelies.Apologies for the lull in posting. But the recent earthquake in Haiti has been devastating to watch. As many of you know I have family in Haiti and just two weeks ago my husband Tim was there helping set-up a computer lab at a neighborhood library near the capital of Haiti.

Needless to say it's been a long week waiting to hear from my loved ones. Most of them are fine, have sustained injuries, and collapsed homes. They are the lucky ones. But I worry for their safety, I worry about whether they will have enough food to eat and water to drink. Those of us in the states are helpless. We can't send them money as we are used to doing. We can't talk to them at all or for long periods of time. So we wait and hope they are fending for themselves the best way they can.  And then there are the ones that are still missing; an uncle and a dear close family friend who was like a mom to me when I lived in Haiti. We are keeping them in our prayers and hoping for the best.

 I know many of you have already donated to one or more of the charities or organizations helping with relief in Haiti. Several shop owners in Oakland are also reaching out to their clientele. Tootsie's, a women's shoe store on college avenue is asking you to find and give the most appropriate footwear to help the victims of the quake, and to do it quickly. They will collect them in a bin and send them off to Souls4Souls as they receive them. Mcmullen, a woman's boutique on Piedmont from January 18-22 will donate 10% of sales to Doctors Without Borders , a humanitarian organization providing health assistance to victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Other big retailers are finding ways to support as well.

Lowe's has announced that it will donate $1 million to support the American Red Cross International Response Fund. All of the chain’s 1,700 stores will serve as donation centers for the American Red Cross. Take your old clothes to your local Lowes.

Walmart operations around the world and the Walmart Foundation have announced a $500,000 monetary donation to the Red Cross emergency relief efforts in Haiti. The company is also sending pre-packaged food kits valued at $100,000 to Haiti at the request of the Red Cross. I am glad to see Walmart helping since some products in Walmart stores come from Haiti. Margaret McKenna, the president of the Walmart Foundation, stated that Walmart has a responsibility to reach out to the victims in Haiti.

Target will donate $500,000 to the American Red Cross, also. In addition, Target Volunteers are working in partnership with students from The Fair School in Minneapolis and ImpactLives, a local nonprofit, to prepare more than 1 million meals to send to Haiti.

TOMS Shoes- According to their website, "For the next 48 hours, TOMS will donate $5 of every One for One purchase to disaster relief in Haiti through Partners in Health."

Earlier this month, Timberland released a line of boots designed by Wyclef Jean to benefit his Yele Haiti organization. Originally, $2 from the sale of each pair of boots was going toward reforestation in Haiti, but efforts have been redirected since Tuesday to help earthquake victims.

Fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein have made charitable donations too.  I'm  certain there are and will be more retailers doing similar work. And it goes without saying that I have been tremendously moved by the outpouring of help to the Haitian people. I hope this helps extends way into the future after the dust settles.