Montanans open wallets for Haiti

Just as in previous disasters, Montanans have opened their hearts and wallets to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Rod Kopp, chief executive officer of American Red Cross of Montana, said his telephone hasn’t stopped ringing since the tragedy began, with Montanans wanting to know how they can contribute to help the people.

“It’s reflective of the giving during the last big disaster – Katrina,” Kopp said. “Montana was in the top five states in per capita giving. People in our state are very generous.”

People have several other ways to give, including one of the newest and most convenient – donating $10 through cell phone texting Haiti to 90999. According to Kopp, many people in Montana and across America have jumped on this method.

“We are — there’s no other way to put it — completely blown out of the water by the response,” he said. “We’ve never seen anything like it before.”

As of yesterday, people in Montana had donated $300,000 to help Haiti by cell-phone texting. Kopp said callers’ cell-phone companies add the $10 donation to their cell phone bill.

Local people also have been extremely generous to the Salvation Army for its work helping in Haiti, according to Sandy Reich, who handles donations at the  Kalispell office.

“We’ve probably had $11,000 come in here this week,” Reich said. “People can come to our office and drop off donations.”

According to Reich, the Salvation Army cannot accept goods or merchandise for use in the Haiti relief effort. She said she can accept only monetary contributions.

People who would like to drop off a donation may take it to the Salvation Army’s administrative offices at 110 Bountiful Drive in Kalispell.

Montana’s Attorney General Steve Bullock issued a press release Friday encouraging people to donate to established relief organizations to avoid scams that capitalize on tragedies by using e-mails, social-networking sites and solicitation phone calls.

He advises using Internet-based resources that assist in confirming the group’s existence and its nonprofit status rather than following a link to the site. The attorney general said to make contributions directly instead of relying on someone else to make it on your behalf.

Bullock provided information about the texting option and said he used it himself to donate to the international fund of the Red Cross.

The Salvation Army has a similar option by texting Haiti to 52000. Their organization landed an assessment team in Haiti on Thursday, has an airplane with supplies in the air and has volunteers assembling a million meals for shipment.

According to information from Reich, the Salvation Army has had a permanent presence in Haiti since 1950. The organization operates schools, clinics, a hospital, feeding programs, children’s homes and church-related activities across Haiti.

One compound about 10 minutes from the National Palace in Port-au-Prince suffered major damage to the children’s home, clinic and church, but no one was injured.

 Those who don’t text or want to make larger donations have several other ways to donate to either the Red Cross or the Salvation Army including:

n Call 1-800-RED-CROSS or 1-800-SAL-ARMY, designate Haiti as the recipient of the donation then provide the requested payment information.

n Donate through the Internet by going to www.redcross.org or www.salvationarmyusa.org and follow instructions from the donation button which include the option of specifically giving to the Haiti earthquake victims.

n Send a check made out to the Salvation Army with Haiti earthquake relief on the memo line and send it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 8357, Kalispell, MT 59904.

n Send a check made out to the American Red Cross with Haiti earthquake relief written on the memo line and send it to: American Red Cross of Montana, P.O. Box 2406, Great Falls, MT 59405.

According to Kopp, the American Red Cross Montana chapter office in Great Falls quickly processes the checks.

“Everything that comes in that day goes out that day,” he said.

For the last two years, the Red Cross has not had paid staff operating a disaster service office in Kalispell to accept donations. However, Mark Reasner, the lead volunteer here, said people may pick up a pre-addressed envelope at the Blood Services office at 126 North Meridian Road.

“The Blood Services office is staffed,” he said. “They can pick up an envelope and donate blood at the same time.”

Like the Salvation Army, the Red Cross also can only accept monetary donations.

Local volunteers trained in large-scale disasters have not been mobilized to help on the ground in Haiti with the International Red Cross as the lead agency for Haiti. Reasner said military with highly specialized training in rescue are serving the most critical need at this point.

Although the staffed office closed, about 20 Red Cross volunteers remain active in the Flathead Valley. John Donoghue, who with his wife Margie served Hurricane Katrina victims, said he suspects American volunteers may eventually get called to help because of the huge size of the disaster and our proximity to Haiti.

He said he and his wife are patiently waiting for a phone call from the computerized dispatch system out of Washington, D.C.

“I have a hunch Margie and I end up down there, maybe in the feeding operation,” he said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com