Haiti Relief

Though I'm wary of disaster relief agencies that consume 20% of donations for administrative services, I've been surfing the Net to find a good one. Then I run across the Charity Navigator. I check out them that got 4-star ratings, with little going for overhead and find (why am I not surprised?): William J. Clinton Foundation. So, post-haste, I get Heidi's MasterCard (while she's asleep) and contribute $100 for Haiti Relief. When she arises, she says she had intended to contribute via the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). For a number of years we had lived in a Mennonite community and know that them Mennonites leave their farms to organize relief efforts. Indeed, our neighbour (who, by the way, had built our house) often flew here and their (e.g. New Orleans, after Katrina) to assist MCC relief efforts ... without pay. He kept his trailer next to us: Though neither of us are Mennonites, the atmosphere in our little village was contagious. After an earthquake hit South America, Heidi & I volunteered. Dozens of Mennonites had contributed cattle which I helped carve up (along with dozens of more experienced Mennonites) and Heidi helped cook & can the meat (with dozens of Mennonite ladies) which would be shipped to South America. Indeed, the Mennonite relief agency brought a HUGE 18-wheeler with cooking & canning facilities! In spite of the MCC (or MDS) being our favourite organization, Heidi was happy to have contributed via the Clinton Foundation.