The American Institute of Philanthropy has a rating system for charities, at charitywatch.org, including a very easy to access list for groups sending aid to Haiti. It gave Partners in Health an A+ and Mercy Corps an A-.

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Daily Crossword Puzzle Poem Draft for 1/20/10 (ooh! mathematically fun date!)

The year of the nerd and geek,
The weak-chinned emcee,
philanthopist commander:
We face a guillotine like Anne
or eat peeled grapes, or both -
detest the time we're dealt.
Or wake up. Heck each day's
our last hurrah.
I'm a sham, your flim flam man,
your time's a-wasted, case acute.
some fella's screaming Stella
another loves regret as pet
If lucky we'll be seniors
all good at high school drama
we need more lively arts.
Ah jeez, to be alive, an ape
with napkins and entree,
Melmac, martinis and Mecca
Perrier green Armani -
merry as Methuselah
the twelfth man on the team
and all our greeny acres
gone to wrack and neon.
Newly day, we wake and stir.

Haiti, Haiti, Haiti.
A friend of mine suggested donating to Mercy Corps or Paul Farmer's Partners in Health. I'm a fan of both organizations. Partners in Health has been working in Haiti 20 years, so I chose them. If you have medical skills they need (orthopedic/trauma), medical supplies (large quantities), or private plane they WANT YOU! GET GOING!

I am grateful for my good fortune and giddy delight in language, for love and a foundation, for clean water out of the tap. I am grateful that today when my husband and I both admitted we are scared of the melted plastic door of our microwave which has fallen so that the microwaves may have been getting into the room and our brains and messing with us, that we could get into our car and drive to the appliance store and buy a new one. We know where our daughters are and that they are alright.