Haiti Given International and Celebrity Aid
Rescuers and money from all of the world was being poured into Haiti on Thursday, 2 days after the 7 magnitude earthquake hit close to its capital, Port-au-Prince. It’s been estimated that up to 50,000 (hopefully not more) people are predicted to have been killed from the disaster, while there are still many people trapped under rubble from collapsed buildings.
Rescue teams from the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Iceland, Poland and Brazil were sent to the country in search of trapped victims, while Chile, Spain, Israel and Russia sent field hospitals by air. Banks have also made donations, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Jefferies Group Inc. and Bank of America. Digicel Group and Citigroup have also pledged funds, and in combination with the funds promised from governments, hundreds of millions have been pledged altogether so far.
Aside from these more immediate efforts, actor George Clooney and MTV have teamed up to have a telethon to raise money for Haiti’s people. The actor has already been reaching out to his fellow stars to participate in the action. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have already donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders for emergency medical services in the country. In a statement, Angelina said that it’s horrible to see such a catastrophe hit people that have been suffering from unrest, violence and poverty for many decades.
Meanwhile, other celebrities have posted on Twitter to convince fans to send donations to relief groups. Lindsay Lohan, Shakira, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Adam Lambert, P. Diddy, Paris Hilton, Ben Stiller, among others have joined in the effort. It’s even rumored that Tiger Woods is helping.