Today, on the second anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Paurt-Au-Prince, killing 230,000 and injuring millions more, over 40 high profile personalities are using their Twitter and Facebook accounts to rekindle the world’s interest in helping Haiti.
Celebrities leveraging their social influence to raise awareness for “HAITI: Aid Still Required” include Maroon 5, Sting, Alicia Keys, Lady Antebellum, Hugh Jackman, Sheryl Crow, Tim McGraw, Martha Stewart, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Don Cheadle, Deepak Chopra and NBA stars Paul Pierce, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, reaching a total of 125 million social media followers.
“The usual pattern is for the public to contribute generously in the moment of a disaster and then forget about it,” says Hunter Payne, president of Aid Still Required. “But disasters don’t heal themselves – they take time, energy and resources over a protracted arc. ;We hope this campaign will go a long way to engendering this kind of thinking not only about this tragedy but all others as well.”
When the earthquake hit Port-Au-Prince two years ago, it destroyed hospitals, transport facilities, communication systems, and left over a million survivors homeless and starving without proper sanitation or clean drinking water. Today, the people of Haiti continue to live in a state of emergency. The number of orphaned and abandoned children has more than doubled since the quake and the incidence of rape has increased markedly.
“When we heard that Aid Still Required was launching a campaign to help raise awareness and donations for a nation still very much in need, we knew we had to lend our support,” said John Ludlow, chief strategy officer of Snoball. “Interested participants can log-on to Snoball.com/Haiti to make donations to HAITI: Aid Still Required and encourage their social networks to join the cause.”
Proceeds from the campaign will fund reforestation projects, infrastructure and teachers for orphanages, and trauma relief programs for PTSD and rape victims. Snoball and Aid Still Required invite individuals to visit Snoball.com/Haiti or http://aidstillrequired.org/donate to pledge their support and raise awareness for the ongoing crisis in Haiti.
