Help Haiti
Episcopal Relief &
Development is providing emergency funds to
Haiti
after the devastating earthquake on January 12.
Click here
to reach their website, which has the
Haiti Fund and current
information on the disaster situation.
The Senate has now passed legislation that allows taxpayers to deduct
cash donations to
Haiti
earthquake relief on their 2009 tax returns instead of having to wait.
Any contributions made between January 12 and Feb. 28 will count
toward 2009 taxes. Cell phone contributions made through text messages
can be deducted if the cell phone bills are provided as proof of
donation.
In a January 21 letter, the Rt. Rev. Shannon Johnston,
Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia outlines the situation and asks for
our help:
Dear Diocesan Family,
Our
hearts remain heavy this week amid the reports of mounting loss and
dreadful suffering from
Haiti.
The Diocese of Virginia and its parishes are deeply committed to mission
work in
Haiti.
This is true now more than ever. Our Haitian brothers and sisters need
our prayers, our time, our talents, our treasure, and most especially
our love. I urge you to give all of this freely.
Right now we can do three things for our brothers and sisters in
Haiti:
-
Be steadfast in prayer.
Every single contact we receive from
Haiti
asks first for prayer - and that we must do.
-
Give, and give generously, to Episcopal Relief & Development.
The Rt. Rev. Jean Zaché Duracin, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of
Haiti, has communicated that he is working closely with ERD to help
direct their efforts, and that he is pleased with their work.
Bishop Duracin is working hand in hand with ERD to help direct the
relief and support to where it is most needed. While the media is
full of reports of the ineffectiveness and inefficiency in the
relief effort, ERD is ensuring aid goes where it is most needed
fairly, promptly and effectively. The efforts may not make the news,
but from those on the ground, we know ERD is working well with our
sister diocese in
Haiti.
You can make donations
online.
-
Keep up with developments and needs on the ground.
The Rev. Lauren Stanley, a priest of this diocese and a missionary
of the Episcopal Church to
Haiti,
is in constant contact with those working currently in
Haiti
and will be serving as a clearing house of information.
The
people of
Haiti
are in need of help and support, but volunteer relief workers in the
near future will more likely be a burden than a help to those on the
ground, and run the risk of hindering current humanitarian efforts. The
Presiding Bishop has requested that dioceses postpone parish mission
trips to
Haiti
until such time as we hear from the Diocese of Haiti that they are ready
for us to come. Accordingly, we have postponed our young adult mission
trip, originally scheduled for February 2010. I ask you also to
postpone any mission trips you have planned there in the near future.
To
be sure, this is only a postponement.
Haiti
needs us to come, and we need to go. The only question is when. I
am working closely with Buck Blanchard, Lauren Stanley and the
Haiti
leadership team in the Diocese to determine the answer to that question.
Pray for our brothers and sisters in
Haiti
as they walk through this difficult time.
Faithfully,
The
Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston
Bishop of
Virginia