The Developed World has turned to Haiti. Funds are being raised everywhere to assist in the rescue, relief and rebuilding of Haiti. In the Netherlands the Dutch join together to give to a specific relief account: Giro555. Giro meaning the type of account (shorthand for post office account which was commonly used in the olden days) and 555 being the national account number for disaster relief. Every time disaster strikes, the Dutch give to Giro555. The money collected is then divided amongst nine organizations providing disaster relief in the country where disaster struck, including the Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children and others.
On Thursday, January 21, radio stations throughout The Netherlands worked together to raise money for Giro555. Throughout the week the Dutch were already actively raising money for Giro555 ranging from: children baking and selling goods in schools, car washes, benefit concerts, children going door-to-door, companies donating x% of their income from a certain product, an auction on twitter etc. In the evening there was a live broadcast in which many different television networks worked together to raise more money. About 360 famous Dutch people, from movie stars and pop stars to royalty, were in the studio helping with the fundraiser: answering telephone calls from people wanting to donate and contributing with music and song.
At the end of the evening the teller stopped at 41,724,126 Euros and because the Minister for Development had promised to double the amount, the National Event for Haiti brought in 83,448,252 Euros. That is $117,945,763. And, the good news is, many of the fundraising events throughout the country are ongoing. So this is not yet the final amount.
Well done for The Netherlands, a country with a population of 16,499,084. Let us hope and pray that the money reaches the people in Haiti.
No comments:
Post a Comment