USA Today in its Jan 13 issue, p 6A, has an article "Faith-based aid bolsters Haiti relief." It lists various religious groups and the amount of aid they have furnished in Haiti during the year. (Article at http://is.gd/dOqjsS ). It lists Catholic Relief Services as well as mentioning 500 U.S. Catholic parishes, an evangelical group called "Samaritan's Purse," the United Methodist Church, and an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The LDS church is not mentioned.

On the www.lds.org website the lead newsroom article features the Mormon contribution to Haitian relief: http://is.gd/b8ebAR with a long list of stuff donated.

But no monetary value is given for any category. I submitted a query to the website asking what money value the church placed on its contributions. I'll let you know if I get an answer.

And carefully photo-document the whole thing before disappearing in a cloud of dust, their yellow "Mormon Helping Hands" T-shirts blurring in the distance?

Ugh, this really disgusts me. I was on the mormontimes website today, and every third story was about relief in Haiti. I was so repulsed with such a blatant lie.

Thanks for the links, I know a couple of people that need to see this.

I was bothered by the same article: ranted and raved here:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,76532,76532#msg-76532

Hope you get an answer. Let's see how it stacks up to the other groups. "Sent 48 Cots" holy shit are they serious??

After the first month following the earthquake they said they provided more than $4.25 million in Haiti relief:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700009189/Mormon-church-provided-425M-in-Haiti-relief.html

that they would be listed in the article. Perhaps TSCC's involvement is similar to the Tsunami a few years ago, or Katrina. For an organization that pulls in Billions of dollars per year in charitable donations, this would ahve been a good opportunity to really make a value statement, but alas, I think the value is in the mall.

Nightline last night did an extensive report on Samaritan's Purse efforts in Haiti, a relief organization headed by Franklin Graham. The relief organization of the Southern Baptist Convention ranks about third largest in the US behind the Salvation Army and the Red Cross, Of the three, the latter probably has the highest overhead costs of any with much going to paid workers.

Interesting and curious if you learn more. I was so financially strapped when it all happened I couldn't contribute to it then.... but now things are a bit better and I am contributing to one you mentioned. The sights I see on TV of the devistation is hard to think about. The poor children, no jobs, and the living conditions just haunt me.

I just read an article on Haiti. It said that after the earthquake,8 billion dollars was pledged. They have only received one billion.

Maybe the Mormons could sell their mall and donate some real money for a change.

I was in Haiti last summer and I can assure you that, while many NGOs are making a difference, many are not.

The tent people are living in absolute misery. The ones I saw had no toilet facilities, no shower facilities, nothing. Many were just living under a taurpeline, living off scraps that some NGO might provide. However, the people resent the huge expensive SUVs that many NGOs seem to have. They seem to be zipping around, doing nothing.

Clinton's organization seems to have a lot of money but not much is being done. Many of the NGOs are evangelical cults engaged in a Jesus-friendly jihad against the Vodou religion. Despite all the alleged help, most of the rubble remains in the streets. Nothing is being done about education beyond cult-supported fare in most cases, in the camps that is.

The greatest problem is that the Haitian state has essentially collapsed. Haiti was the second country to gain independence in the Americas after a successful slave revolt. From 1804 to 1862, Haiti was subjected to a strict embargo by the slave-owning United States which was afraid of its own slaves following suit. Haiti was the richest colony in the Americas, believe it or not. It provided France with more money than the 13 colonies did for England. The loss of Haiti was a financial blow to France of such proportions that Napoleon was forced to sell Lousiana to the US, ie. The famous Louisiana Purchase.
In order for Haiti to gain recognition, she was forced to pay 150,000,000 gold francs to France in compensation for loss of property, I.e, the slaves. Haiti had to pay these ruinous and punitive reparations to France until 1947!!!!!!
Haiti was occupied by the US from 1915-1934. The US banks had to be paid as well as France. The US did precious ,title except introduce a Jim Crow system there. They killed quite a few Haitians who rose in rebellion. However, they did leave a US trained army behind which assured US control of the place.
Several nasty dictatorships later, including the particularly loathsome Duvaliers, the Haitians were able to have free elections. However, they elected the wrong man, Aristide. He actually wanted to do things for the poor but that threatened the proUS elite's tight grip on power and Bush I got the Haitian Army to chuck the bastard out. However, the Army overdid the oppression part and Clinton brought Aristide back but with conditions: sell all state companies and remove all rice tariffs. Reluctantly, this was done. The result was a windfall for Arkansas rice farmers but disaster for Haitian farmers who were forced off the land and into the teeming city of Port-au-Prince, living in abject poverty.
The American idea was to make Haiti a pool of cheap labour so that baseballs and textiles could be made cheaply, as cheap as the Chinese. However, this plan never made it. Aristide was reelected by a huge majority again. While there were problems, Aristide did start building schools in record numbers. Aristide did a huge no no. He abolished the useless but hated Haitian Army, the Americans' greatest tool for control. Bush II's response was to withhold money to the Haitian government. Even IMF funds were withheld but Haiti was still forced to pay on the interest of the money denied them.
Aristide held on and so the US funded and armed a thug named Guy Phillipe who invaded Aristide from the Dominican Republic. Although his group ravaged the North, it was too small to threaten Aristide. Thus, US forces were flown to Haiti to arrest Aristide. He was flown to the Central African Republic and eventually forced into exile in South Africa.
This is the background to why so many died in the 2010 earthquake and why there is resistance to the latest attempt to impose an unpopular government in Haiti. Aristide's party, Fanmi , is banned even though it regularly polled three quarters of the vote. This is like banning the Republican Party in Utah.
Meantime, the Haitian State lies in ruins. The NGOs and Un forces are what there is of the State. The UN forces were sent in 2004 because there was no US-controlled Haitian Army to protect the corrupt Haitian elite.
When I think of the money spent on the Lord's Mall, I get angry. Four billion dollars spent the right way could pull Haiti out of her excruciating mystery. Next time you read about Haiti's plight, remember there are reasons for the wretched indigence. The next time you hear about four billion dollars for a stupid mall, remember how that kind of money could have been spent on helping a brave people barely holding on to existence, ultimately due to misguided US government policy. The Mormons could have made a difference. They blew it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2011 08:14AM by tapirbackrider.

I've got to find some sort of book or something. This is one of the things that burns my butt about being American.

were forced to release their financial records in England. How much went to tsunami victims? $0

One of the exmos calculate that they give away $6 per year per member in aid to people in need. With their bloated income and their Rolex watches, it's a disgrace.

That mall is going to be their double dare-yah downfall, and we will see that Tower of Babel fall. Hopefully it will hit the Great and Spacious office building and fulfill prophecies all way round.

Fun times-- off to bed.

Anagrammy

Didn't anyone call the church on this? Were there no consequences?

Those "wicked Lamanites" helped too:

http://www.nativetimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2937:california-tribes-donates-17-million-to-haitian-relief-efforts&catid=54&Itemid=30