"Hope for Haiti Now" Celebrity Telethon Raises $57 Million

ABC News ^ | 01/23/2010

[SeekAndFind]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon, led by George Clooney and Haiti-born rapper Wyclef Jean, has raised more than $57 million for relief to the earthquake-ravaged country, organizers said on Saturday.

They called the $57 million a record for public donations in a disaster relief telethon, and said the figures were still "preliminary" as they exclude donations by corporations and large private donors and sales figures on website iTunes.

Organizers said the "Hope for Haiti Now" album was the biggest one-day album pre-order in iTunes history and was currently No. 1 on iTunes' album chart in 18 countries.

The two-hour telethon featured more than 100 celebrities singing songs, telling tales of loss and survival in Haiti and taking donations by phone. It was broadcast on television networks around the world, online and on mobile carriers.

Singer Alicia Keys kicked off the benefit singing "Prelude to a Kiss." U.S. rapper Jay-Z debuted a song with U2's Bono and The Edge, and R&B artist Beyonce sang her "Halo" with Coldplay's Chris Martin on piano.

Actors including Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington and Nicole Kidman told stories of Haitians who had survived and heroic tales of rescue efforts.

Proceeds will be split among relief organizations including the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, the U.N. World Food Program, Oxfam America, the Red Cross, UNICEF and Yele Haiti Foundation.

[Paradox]

Americans are quite generous.

[LachlanMinnesota]

And to whom will they account for the use of these funds?

Will we see the receipts, or will it just disappear into the ether?

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

The folks on the stage could have made that number a lot bigger.

They just chose to use the event to get some face time for their movies and cd’s......

[SeekAndFind]

This link shows which countries have donated to Haiti and how much it donated per capita :

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tMozJlQiN8ftSj0s8tLx31g&output=html

[SeekAndFind]

Haiti pledges of aid by country and organisation

Country/organisation	Funding, committed and uncommitted, $	$ per person	% of total
Others	636958619		36.32
Private (individuals & organisations)	363486895		20.73
United States	167769881	0.53	9.57
Canada	130733775	3.89	7.45
World Bank (emergency grant)	100000000		5.7
Spain	45880231	1.02	2.62
European Commission	44877340		2.56
United Kingdom	32590138	0.53	1.86
France	31313132	0.50	1.79
Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)	25781609		1.47
Sweden	23219317	2.51	1.32
Germany	20356105	0.25	1.16
Brazil	15535730	0.08	0.89
Australia	13489211	0.63	0.77
China	13005286	0.01	0.74
Denmark	11246301	2.06	0.64
Norway	10398613	2.16	0.59
UN & agencies	10000000		0.57
Italy	8580536	0.14	0.49
Finland	7718305	1.45	0.44
Japan	5327154	0.04	0.3
Russian Federation	5000000	0.04	0.29
Switzerland	4751533	0.63	0.27
Netherlands	4329004	0.26	0.25
United Arab Emirates	3208129	0.70	0.18
Ghana	3000000	0.13	0.17
Ireland	2886002	0.64	0.16
Donors not specified	2219169		0.13
Indonesia	1700000	0.01	0.1
Czech Republic	1154401	0.11	0.07
Belgium	1151876	0.11	0.07
Poland	1089466	0.03	0.06
New Zealand	1000000	0.23	0.06
Morocco	1000000	0.03	0.06
Guyana	1000000	1.31	0.06
Estonia	1000000	0.75	0.06
Luxembourg	722900	1.49	0.04
Greece	290000	0.03	0.02
Inter-American Development Bank	200000		0.01
South Africa	134903.63	0.00	0.01
WORLD TOTAL	1753770658	0.26	100

[exit82]

Guess the guy Zero bowed to in Saudi Arabia is having trouble finding his checkbook.....

[Yorlik803]

Ok...20 mil will maybe make it to Haiti.
The rest will line some scumbags pocket or by Wycleaf to buy a new Bently. They aint cheap ya know.

[lack-of-trust]

$57 Million... Gross or Net?

[SeekAndFind]

The rest will line some scumbags pocket or by Wycleaf to buy a new Bently.

I heard that Wylcef Jean's charity has VERY POOR accounting and cannot account for most of the money given to it.

AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE. If you want to give, give it to reputable organizations like the Red Cross, World Vision or Compassion International.

Avoid governmental or semi-governmental organizations as overhead and other deductions will eat up over half of the money.

[fr_freak]

The folks on the stage could have made that number a lot bigger.

They just chose to use the event to get some face time for their movies and cd’s......

Exactly. These pampered Hollywood types get millions for each movie they are in, and many of them have become quite wealthy. If each of them donated a million bucks, they could have doubled the take and spared all of the cost of this telethon, and a million bucks would be pocket change. Instead, they get their faces on TV, soak up the adoration, and ask middle class people to give their hard-earned money. Then they get to sit back and feel generous and noble while complaining about how greedy and evil Americans are.

[cherry]

I distrust Howood and the "music" industry...they NEVER do anything for free.....

you watch...they all had private special little dressing rooms with cavier and champaign...

if the bunch of them wrote checks of just a little bit of their wealth, they wouldn't need to tie up the airways begging for money....

[ntnychik]

Highlight of the evening for me was Mary J. Blige singing the old spiritual, “Hard Times, Hard Times Come Again No More”. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a spiritual sung in prime time.

[LachlanMinnesota]

I really would like to know what specific uses are made of the money. What was or will be purchased in goods or services for 1.7 billion dollars?

Does any go to the US Government to reimburse the costs of sending the supplies and people to help? Or is the donated money in addition to the money our government pays for transporting and supplying the help? Where does one find such information?

A related question: When the Gulf War started, President Bush asked American children to all send a dollar for the Iraqi children, and my daughters sent money in. How much was collected? What was purchased with it? How much was for transportation and shipping for whatever it was we bought with it?

It makes it harder to donate to charity when it is never revealed that it did any good.

I remember reading about Winston Churchill advising the British during the Blitz to donate aluminum pans to the country to build more fighter planes, but in fact they were piled up unused. He said it made people feel that they were helping and not so powerless.

[boop]

As Krusty the Klown says:
“those limos out back don’t pay for themselves”

[Yorlik803]

Salvation Army always had a good record in how cash is given out.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Interesting list....and nice to see some countries give a lot like Canada, and some with very little wealth (Ghana) sending more than some of the richer European countries

The most embarrassing is Communist China....only 13 million from a country of 1.3 billion, and has all our American jobs......

I am sure the Liberal Free Trader Globalists will have some spin on why their friend Communist China has done so little.....real reason is that Haiti actually still recognizes Taiwan as an indpendent nation.....and the ChiComs are limiting help

[Henk7]

57Million? that must be the biggest joke. In the Netherlands we had a similar event called “The Netherlands for Haiti”(Nederland voor Haiti) and we raised 42 million Euro`s about 61 million Dollars and the amount was announced during the show, not 1 or 2 days after the show thus including extra donations. And we are a nation of only 16 million people!!! And this Dutch amount doesn`t even include the tens of millions given in separate donations over the previous days nor the donations by our government nor the donations by our companies. So am i getting this right a nation of 16 million gives more money then a nation of 310 million. American`s Generous? Biggest joke ever.

[Paradox]

So am i getting this right a nation of 16 million gives more money then a nation of 310 million.

My friend, you joined FR just to post this rubbish? American Generosity goes far beyond what you see in a "telethon". You simply have NO CLUE what Americans have done for Haiti over the last many years. Similar to what Americans have done for Europe since the last time the Europeans tried to destroy themselves. The amount is IMMEASURABLE. Its easy to spend money and feel smug about ones self when there is another footing the bill for your security and providing for a large portion of you economy. So take your smug ass back across the pond.

[SunkenCiv]

• Wyclef Jean Voices Support For Haitian Rebels
• Wyclef Jean asks Haitians to give up crime
• How Altruistic is Wyclef's Haiti Aid Organization?
• Wyclef Jean 'paid himself charity money' (Haiti)
• Wyclef Jean's Funny Money (Haiti Charity is a RIP OFF)
• Wyclef (Jean) on Haiti Charity (embezzlement): Mistakes Were Made
• Haiti earthquake: Wyclef Jean calls for evacuation of Port-au-Prince
• Hope For Haiti Now Telethon Tonight
• Hoax Phone Calls? Woman Calls Hope For Haiti Telethon and Says Her Granddaughter Has "Spinal Bifida"

Thanks SeekAndFind.