News: Hitting Close to Home

Folks around South Florida have been following the tragic earthquake in Haiti with much interest. After all, Haitian immigrants are so pervasive in these parts that we have Haitian radio stations and Creole patient instructions in the hospitals.

Why Florida? Well, even in the best of times, Haiti's crushing poverty and political instability drove many desperate Haitians to seek our shores, hoping for a better life. As a result, many of us have Haitian-American friends, family, and coworkers.

If you can, please donate to relief agencies like UNICEF and the American Red Cross, whether it's your money (particularly helpful to secure medical supplies), your food, or your time. It's a recession in the U.S., but in Haiti, where most people get by on less than a dollar a day, your aid could literally be the difference between baking to death in the sun or having enough water to live.