Happy Monday! The outpouring of support and donations for Haiti has been incredible.
In less than one week, millions have been raised from individuals, corporations, governments, foundations and religions institutions around the world.
Everyone is giving.
Over $500 million pledged from Europe, $100 million from the U.S., $5 million from Canada, $1 million from India and China. And the list of government support keeps growing.
Corporations have also been pledging millions of dollars: JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanely, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Google, McDonalds, Comcast and many others.
More millions are coming from the NFL, Hollywood stars and from individuals worldwide who have made donations to various charities. The Red Cross has raised $20 million through text message donations alone - a new trend that fundraisers are sure to be talking about for months to come.
Seeing how quickly we can mobilize to help each other on a global scale - setting aside our national and business interests, our politics, our racism and classism and our obsession with ourselves – is truly inspiring.
A week ago we were focused on what we didn’t have: a robust economy. Today we are all focused on what we can give and how we can help.
Do we have to wait for tragedy to work together in this way? Is there another impetus besides catastrophe to activate the power of our collective compassion and to motivate us to stand unified in our efforts to end human suffering and help those in need?
Where is all this money coming from? What were we spending these millions of dollars on before the earthquake in Haiti?