Helping Haiti

Written by Douglas Hanna

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Chances are that you have almost certainly heard of the recent and very tragic earthquake that has nearly devastated the Caribbean nation of Haiti. In the wake of such a sudden and severe tragedy, it can be hard to see hope.

The American Red Cross, along with thousands of other support and aid organizations, has been making a huge effort to get things as close to normal for people in Haiti. To support that relief effort, HostGator is making a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development fund.

The press release announcing the donation is below:

HOUSTON – Shared, reseller, and dedicated web hosting company HostGator announced on Monday that it has donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development fund.

The donation, which is the fourth six digit charitable donation HostGator has made in its eight year history, will help the American Red Cross provide support for the relief efforts in Haiti, which will likely include mobilizing additional aid workers, sending supplies, and providing financial resources for what is certain to be a long recovery for the government and people of Haiti.

“What happened in Haiti is a tragedy,” said Brent Oxley, HostGator’s founder and CEO. “I’m glad to be in a position where we’re able to help those in need. It’d be wrong to do nothing in light of what happened to the people. Their lives are going to be forever changed in a way that most Americans can barely fathom.”

HostGator is participating in the Hosting for Haiti alliance, an effort in which a number of major web hosting companies united to provide financial and public resources for relief in Haiti. In addition to its financial donation, HostGator will continue to encourage its customers and employees to donate to the efforts in Haiti through Twitter and other company communication channels.

On January 12, a number of earthquakes ranging from 6.5 to 7.3 on the Richter scale, devastated the poor Caribbean nation. Figures released by the Haitian government estimate the death toll to be approximately 200,000, with 80,000 people already buried in mass graves around the country.

If you’re financially able, we encourage you to make a donation to help the people of Haiti as well. Whether you donate, $10 or $100,000, your donation will help people who are truly in need. Check out the Hosting for Haiti website for more information on how to get involved. If you aren’t financially able (or if you just want to do more), consider Tweeting, blogging, or telling others about the cause and how they can help.

And to the other hosting companies out there: we encourage you to outdo us with your own donations. In this competition, everyone wins.

Posted in

Gator Goodness, World Gator

Comments

Alex

Thats greta! Ny country did a donation of the same amount of money :))))))
http://hostgator.com Angela

I am so proud to work for a company like HostGator! Thank You Brent!
Ryan A.

Great to know that Hostgator is involved in helping the Haitian people out in their time of dire need. I too have donated to the Red Cross and encourage others to do the same.

Ryan
http://vikas-gupta.in Vikas Gupta

I am not very financially able but I had displayed the Red Cross banner for about a week on my blog’s sidebar.
http://BrittBellamy.com Britt Bellamy

A HUGH THANK YOU TO HOSTGATOR Thank You HG for doing what you have done to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti. We may not be close in distance to them, but this tragedy could hit anywhere…thank you for stretching out your hand and helping so much.
http://www.semoweb.com SemoWeb

Hi Brent,

It’s great to see that you have donated and stepped your foot into this aswell. It’s so sad to see all the children without parents now.. I also have donated to HostingForHaiti and hoping that everyone over there can get the help they need.
jon

glad to hear it brent! i’m sure this will be better spent than the one laptop per child issue.
http://www.howtoranknumberoneongoogle.com Blogger

Thats a very decent thing to do. I hope many more companies and people who can afford it, do the same.
Matt

Great! Nothing like taking care of a country that has had its’ leaders siphon off $700 Million in aid annually with little going to the populace. So when are you going to promote the homeless, starving, unemployed, uninsured, and kids in orphanages right here in the USA?

Not enough bodies or devastation to get the attention it needs from the media?
Chad Bean

@Matt – I can understand your point, and I know as a company, HostGator has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to foundations and charities in the USA. From Cancer research to Hurricane disaster relief.
http://cegerxwin.com/ olexx

Nice to know that Hostgator is involved in helping the Haitian people. I also have donated to the Red Cross and encourage others to do the same.
http://lionheart.net tampa web hosting

I want to start a fundraiser for Haiti. Except I don’t know what to do, and how to start it. I think that if people know that this is a fundraiser for Haiti, they’ll most likely donate and hopefully we’ll get a lot of money to support Haiti.
Anyways, what are some really creative ideas for a fundraiser?
Ryan Paul

For those of you who care… (and trust a Canadian)…

You should try and give your donations to a Canadian who can then donate to an eligible registered charity in Canada – the Canadian govt is matching all donations up to 100k from individuals.
http://checkdisease.com/ Check Disease

Good to see you too working on this problem, our company too give small donations
http://www.samyeli.net Rams

It is very unfortunate indeed to Haiti to do our best to help make sure çalıçacağız haiti
PL

Wow! So cool what you’ve done guys! I’ve been with you for 2+ years now and I don’t even want to check on the other hosting company services, cause HostGator’s the first one that make me feel making business with people, human, and not “robots” ! At the same time, I know that a part of my money’s always getting involved in cool donation and greats causes, like GreenHosting, or Haiti tragedy.

Thanks for your humanity!
http://howtoburnfat.org Fatima Burn

It is a tragedy in the making, the suffering is beyond belief. Many people have contributed and many more will, lets just hope that the money donated actually goes to help those in need and not funneled into corrupt government officials.
http://auroraherbalincense.com Mandie Sloan

It still amazes me how people come together in tragic times such as these. Brent is an amazing guy for helping out the needy individuals that were displaced by this tragedy. Keep up the good work hostgator!
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It’s a very nice gesture of you guys. When tragedy happens, every help is welcome.
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What happened was really sad. And Haiti needs all the help that they can get from around the world.
http://www.hostlaila.com/ HostLaila

I am new at HostGator, while getting used to with HostGator website, i get to this page. It’s really nice to see your guys are helping with your generous donation. Now I know I am at a responsible company.
http://www.aaajordanshoes.com Caresse

glad to hear it brent!
http://MaxTheITpro.com Max – The IT Pro

FYI…

An Interview With Ashley Smith on Haiti and the NGOs Prisoners on Their Own Island By MIKE WHITNEY:
“For all their professed humanitarianism, these NGOs in no way solve the ongoing crisis and at best mitigate the disaster in societies where they operate. Since they are inter-twined with neoliberal capitalism, they cannot and will not challenge the systemic roots of third world poverty that turn natural disasters into social catastrophes. They are in fact complicit with the problem. Thus, they do a booming business putting band-aids on the mortal wounds their neoliberal donors inflict. Haiti is the paradigmatic example. As Haiti spirals into greater poverty NGOs have exploded to over 10,000 across the country. The worse the conditions have gotten, the more NGOs have sprouted up, in a cycle of growing needs ever more inadequately met.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney01262011.html

Christophe Wargny – “Haiti in the Hands of the NGOs”
http://counterpunch.com/wargny01072011.html

“What the Wikileaks Cables Reveal
Why Washington Won’t Allow Democracy in Haiti”
http://counterpunch.com/weisbrot12272010.html
http://MaxTheITpro.com Max – The IT Pro

some Red Cross food for thought on Haiti:

“…The international NGOs’ record is almost as abysmal. To be clear, some have done invaluable work, especially Partners in Health. But on the whole, the NGOs have failed the Haitian people. The NGOs have not spent the enormous sums of money they collected.

The Red Cross, for instance, garnered $479 million in donations for Haiti, but has only spent or committed $245 million to projects. The NGOs do not coordinate their relief efforts. They are engaged in capitalist competition with one another for funds and are pre-occupied with branding their separate efforts so that they can advertise their “successes” to their donors.

As a result, the NGOs provide at best provide a chaotic jumble of services to quake victims. At worst, they are sitting on piles of cash….”
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney01262011.html
http://www.mywifefashion.com/ my wife fashion

That’s why I have no regret of choose Hostgator as my Hosting for my Blogs..

That’s good HostGator! In exchange of all the progress in your company, you do some social work!

That’s Waht they call SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY!

Good Job!

Julius
http://www.myce101.com
http://new-car-collection.com/ Willy

God give strength and fortitude to the people of Haiti. I also pray for the people of Haiti
http://floridaliverock.com Live Rcok

I have to agree with Julius. Host Gator is a great company.

The world would be a much better place if there was more social responsibility in the market place.