Hello Moto Q Forums

[coolpoete]

$20M seems like alot and it is but the level of help they need will take alot more than that. Please help out in any way that you can!

Mobile giving to help Haiti exceeds $20 million
Americans who are turning to their cell phones to donate money via text message for Haitian relief efforts have pledged more than $20 million as of Monday, an unprecedented amount for mobile donations.
A number of other relief groups were added to the accepted list of organizations that can receive text message donations from customers of the four main wireless carriers in the United States: Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, said Jim Manis, chairman and CEO of the Mobile Giving Foundation.
The foundation said within the first 36 hours after the Jan. 12 quake, "donations made via mobile phones for Haiti earthquake relief ... surpassed $7 million" to several relief organizations. The Bellevue, Wash.-based nonprofit group has worked with the country's four major wireless carriers to arrange for the text-message donation program.
Jeffrey Nelson, Verizon Wireless spokesman, called the campaign "the largest outpouring of charitable support by texting in history — by far."
"In all of 2009, all mobile giving (via texting) to all charities totaled just under $4 million for the year," he said.
The American Red Cross is the largest benefactor of the effort so far. Other organizations receiving $5 and $10 donations include the Yele Haiti foundation; the International Rescue Committee; the International Medical Corps; and the Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund.
In a matter of days, the mobile giving campaign has become a popular and easy way to donate to relief efforts, with all four major carriers backing the text-messaging donation campaign, saying customers will not be charged for text-messaging mobile donations. Smaller carriers around the country are also involved in the program.
Donating is easy; in the Red Cross' case, phone users can text the word "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10," and when prompted, hit "YES" to confirm the donation. The donation is added to the cell user's bill, and receipts are available.
Other text-message words and codes for donations to various organizations include:

• Text the word "QUAKE" to 20222 $10 to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
• Text the word "GIVE" to 25383 to donate $10 to the MTV telethon.
• Text "HAITI" to 25383 to donate $5 to the International Rescue Committee.
• Text "HAITI" to 85944 to donate $10 to the International Medical Corps.
• Text "YELE" to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yele Haiti foundation.
• Text "HAITI" to 52000 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army.
• Text "HOPE10" or "UNICEF" to 20222 to donate $10 to UNICEF.
• Text "HABITAT" to 25383 to donate $10 to Habitat for Humanity.
• Text "OXFAM" to 25383 to donate $10 to Oxfam America, Inc.
• Text "HAITI" to 40579 to donate $10 to the National Religious Broadcasters.
• Text "SAVE" or "SAFE" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Save the Children Federation, Inc.
• Text "GIVE" or "WORLD" to 20222 to donate $10 to World Vision, Inc.
• Text "CARE" to 24383 to donate to CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc.
• Text "AJWS" to 25383 to donate $10 to the American Jewish World Service.

Wireless carriers have vowed to expedite donations to charitable groups helping Haiti. On Friday, Verizon Wireless said it sent nearly $3 million to the American Red Cross, "representing dollars pledged by texting customers," even before collecting the money pledged by its users.
Sprint took the same action. Normally, the company said, it would take 30 to 60 days to transfer the contributions from customers to relief agencies. But because of "the overwhelming support from our customers to the relief efforts, Sprint is donating a bulk of the committed dollars immediately."
As of Friday, AT&T said its customers pledged $4.2 million to the Red Cross, and Verizon Wireless customers have given nearly $3 million to the agency. Sprint customers have contributed more than $1.2 million in mobile-giving donations, a spokeswoman said.
Previous donating-via-text message efforts raised $400,000 after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and $200,000 after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami by all wireless customers in the U.S., said Nelson of Verizon Wireless.
The mobile donation campaign, mentioned on the White House's blog has also lent a boost to the activity.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile said Thursday its current customers trying to connect with "loved ones in Haiti during the aftermath" of the earthquake can make calls to Haiti without being charged for international long distance calls through Jan. 31. The free calls are retroactive to Jan. 12, the date of the quake, T-Mobile said.
Also, T-Mobile customers "who may already be in Haiti will be able to roam on T-Mobile’s partner networks in Haiti (operated locally in Haiti under the names Voila and Digicel) free-of-charge through the end of the month. In both cases, T-Mobile will remove these charges from customer bills accordingly."

URL: Mobile giving to help Haiti exceeds $20 million - Wireless- msnbc.com

[coolpoete]

Verizon will let you call Haiti for free

In addition to T-Mobile also waiving long distance charges to call Haiti from the U.S., we’ve been told Verizon is actually going back and crediting customers who have called Haiti since last Tuesday. Nice one, VZW.

[Taken from Boy Genius]

Upon further research it looks like it's till Jan 31 so call your carrier's customer service to find out more specifics.

[ChrisS]

my prayers go out to the victims of the earthquake...