With reports of a possible 100,000 death toll in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday, companies are rushing in with promises of aid and matching funds for additional donations.
$1 Million Commitments
Bank of America has made a $1 million commitment, including a $500,000 grant to the American Red Cross for the Haitian Relief and Development Fund. The remaining $500,000 contribution will be directed towards the long-term recovery efforts.
Bank of America is also matching associate pledges through its Matching Gifts program.
Abbott and its philanthropic foundation the Abbott Fund have also promised to provide $1 million in initial humanitarian aid, including grant funding and donations of pharmaceutical and nutritional products.
UPS is also donating $1 million to Haitian relief. News about its plans apparently have become distorted on the web. On its blog UPS debunked a rumor that it was shipping packages for free to Haiti. The disrupted communications systems and destroyed roads have caused the transport companies to suspend operations there, it said.
Incenting Customers to Donate
Spirit Airlines is urging customers and would be customers to donate to relief organizations. In exchange Spirit will give 5,000 free Spirit miles to anyone who donates at least $5 to the Red Cross, UNICEF or Yéle Haiti.
Verizon Wireless is also incenting people to donate. Anyone who donates to the Red Cross via their mobile phone does not have to pay fees for that text. To make a $10 donation to the American Red Cross from any Verizon Wireless or AT&T phone, text 90999 with the word "HAITI".
"There is a huge rescue and relief effort underway to help the people of Haiti recover from this devastation and it is critical that any organization in a position to help does so," said Scott Mozarsky, executive vice president, PR Newswire. PR Newswire is waiving fees for all news releases relating to Haitian rescue and recovery efforts through midnight on Sunday, January 17 for U.S.
Search for News
As the magnitude of the destruction caused by the earthquake becomes clear, internet activity related to Haiti has skyrocketed. Zscaler reported that within an hour after it struck on Jan. 12, researchers found a 1578% increase in URLs visited with a corresponding 5407% increase in bandwidth usage for ‘haiti’ URLs.
Search for Scammers
If past disasters are any indication, scammers are already setting up online sites to lure well-intentioned donors into contributing. An FBI offiical reports that less than 24 hours after the Haiti earthquake the agency had already received a handful of complaints about web sites that have been set up that could be a fraudulent. (via ABC News).
