Haiti, Death Toll & Lent

Almsgiving is one of the things we Catholics do during Lent.

There never seems to be a lack of people and organizations needing help - but news from Haiti is a reminder that folks living there are more in need of assistance than many.

"Haiti death toll could reach 300,000: Preval"
Reuters (February 22, 2010)

"The death toll from last month's devastating earthquake in Haiti could jump to 300,000 people, including the bodies buried under collapsed buildings in the capital, Haitian President Rene Preval said on Sunday...."

I prepared a list of charities and their contact information - Catholic and otherwise - for another blog, along with a regularly-updated list of posts I've written on what's going on in Haiti:

• "Haiti: About the Earthquake, Relief, and Related Topics"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North
  • I've put Catholic charitable organizations in their own category

That page also has a list of posts in this, and two other blogs, about Haiti.

This Diocese Raised About $250,000

I was glad to hear that the St. Cloud, Minnesota, diocese raised around a quarter-million dollars in a special collection for Haiti last month. That's nice, but it looks like we'll have opportunities to pitch in for quite a while.

This has not been a pleasant year for Haiti.