The images are difficult to watch on the news, but I have been glued to the TV.  My heart is broken.  The situation in Haiti is horrific.

This event feels personal.  I have been in Haiti.  It was my first trip with Compassion; the trip that changed my life.  I stayed at the Hotel Montana.  I see the destruction of that hotel and it makes my stomach sick.

I think about the conditions of Haiti when I was there, I think about them today, and I can’t imagine.  I can’t imagine the suffering.

This event feels personal because I have a friend who is unaccounted for in Haiti and needs our prayers. Dan Woolley was with us on our blog trip to El Salvador.  He works for Compassion and was down in Haiti during the earthquake. His wife  was on Good Morning America this morning.  She said she goes from hope to despair.  She doesn’t want to live her life without her husband.  I just cried when I saw her.  That felt personal.

There are 65,000 Compassion children served by donors and sponsors in Haiti.  At least a third of them live in the affected areas. Indeed these children are affected.  Many homes are destroyed and it is anticipated many lives were lost.  Certainly, many of the Compassion child development centers were affected, if not destroyed.  We are still waiting for news.  It all feels so personal as I think about the staff, and all those beautiful children.

I am asking you today to help.  I beg you to do something. I know that many families are tight in finances, and I know it’s important to find a trustworthy organization to give.  Compassion is rated and monitored by Charity Navigators.org and The American Institute of Philanthropy.  Both organizations have given Compassion their top rating. Compassion works in Haiti, they have people on the ground ready to go.

Your funds will be used in the following ways:

$35 helps provide a relief pack filled with enough food and water to sustain a  family for one week.

$70 helps care for their needs for two weeks.

$105 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain two families for two weeks.

$210 helps care for two families’ needs.

$525 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain 10 families for two weeks.

$1,050 helps care for 10 families’ needs.

$1,500 helps rebuild a home

$2,100 helps supply 20 families with the basics for three weeks.

Here is the link to give to the relief efforts in Haiti.  It’s so important we help these neighbors!