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Malls and Retailers Join Relief Efforts for Haïti
It will take years for Haïti to recover from the earthquake that devastated its land earlier this month. But, in the short term, the Caribbean country and its citizens can count on the support of relief organizations, governments, charities, corporations, philanthropists, artists and malls all over the world. The response was swift and it included these spontaneous outreach initiatives:
Painting the Mall Red
The UK’s Queens Arcade partnered with Hard Rock Cafe to raise £500 (a little over $800) on behalf of the Yéle Haïti charity by selling red Hard Rock Cafe-branded bracelets in the shopping arcade. The monies will go to the emergency Earthquake Relief Fund that musician and charity founder Wyclef Jean set up for his homeland.
“Along with the rest of the community, we have been shocked and saddened at the plight of Haitians following the appalling earthquake,” said Nick Beckett, Queen Arcade’s center manager.
“We are delighted that our extremely generous customers were able to support the Hard Rock Cafe’s fundraising.”
Hard Rock Cafe has had a relationship with Yéle Haïti for some time now, and the company had actually started selling its red bracelets back in November to help fight food poverty. Since the earthquake, all the money raised has been redirected to Jean’s fund.
“The public can continue to support our fundraising in Hard Rock Cafe by rounding up their bill via our ‘Crank It Up’ program,” said Paul McNally, general manager of Hard Rock Cafe Cardiff. “All monies raised will go directly to Yele Haïti.”
Shoppers can also contribute to the aid effort by visiting the www.QueensArcade.info site and following the links to Yele.org and www.dec.org.uk/donate_ now the Disaster Emergency Committee website.
A Celebration for Life
On January 18, Wendy Zohar brought her string students to perform at Briarwood Mall’s Celebration Center to raise funds for Haïti. The monies will be donated to Partners in Health (www.PIH.org), which has been working in the struggling country for more than 20 years.
“The public can continue to support our fundraising in Hard Rock Cafe by rounding up their bill via our ‘Crank It Up’ program. All monies raised will go directly to Yéle Haïti.”
— Paul McNally
The weekend of January 22 and 23, the Michigan, USA mall hosted the Salvation Army of Washtenaw County’s Hope for Haïti series of events. Among the highlights were musical performances and fundraisers that included a T-shirt decorating activity and the Salvation Army’s Kettle Bounce House by Build-A-Bear Workshop. Visitors could obtain wristbands entitling them to all of the activities in exchange for a $10 donation.
The center’s Twitter master, Denise J. Murray, has been keeping shoppers updated on the fundraising efforts through her tweets. She’s also shared a substantial roster of charities that were active in Haïti. The list featured the organizations’ names, phone numbers and website links.
Spreading the Word
Goszip Mall is asking its shoppers to spend $7 each to benefit Mercy Corps so that the organization’s relief workers can continue their good deeds in Haïti. Among funded projects are those that address immediate needs for water, food and shelter, and then they’ll expand into three areas: clean water, post-trauma support for children and job creation.
Goszip Mall hopes that its fashionista clients will purchase a child’s piece of clothing (valuing at least $7) and drop it off at its offices in West Sacramento, California. The clothing will then be forwarded to the American Red Cross.
Texting Donations
MobileGiving.ca has turned itself into an online meeting place for Canadian citizens interested in supporting charities currently providing relief to Haïti. The site lists charities that make it possible for people to make donations through their mobile phones by texting a specific keyword to the group’s associated shortcode.
A one-time charge of $5 will be added to participants’ wireless bill or deducted from their prepaid balance—the site notes that message and data rates may apply. Service is available for most mobile carriers and all proceeds directly benefit Mobile Giving Foundation’s charity partners.
The foundation also notes that participants can unsubscribe at any time by replying to the message or texting the word ‘STOP‘ to the campaign’s short code.
The Mobile Giving Foundation Canada (MGF-C) was founded in 2009 by veterans of the wireless industry, in partnership with the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) and the support of Canadian wireless operators who wanted to harness the power of wireless communications to empower individuals to support their favorite causes. The concept is simple: give the more than 21 million Canadian wireless users a single “Mobile Giving Channel” over which they could receive and respond to appeals from qualified registered charities (source: MobileGiving.ca).
Feb.
2010
2010
Posted in CSR Programs
