There are a lot of talented gear makers on this website. I wonder if there's there any way that those talents can be utilized for good? Most Haitians are still without shelter:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8488690.stm

Tents seem like the perfect way for this community to give aid to Haiti, but I'm not sure where to begin. I'm also new here, so I don't know if this community ever does things like this. I also bet that many of you have tents lying around that would be blasphemous for the ultralight purist, but are perfect for a homeless family in Haiti.

Here's some related info I dug up online:
http://inclined.americanalpineclub.org/2010/01/26/haiti-relief-second-tent-delivery-planned/
http://clipta.com/Coloradans_Donate_Tents_To_Haiti__nMzI3Njg5

Thoughts?

Edit: Upon further inspection I see that this should be posted in "Chaff," and not here, but I see no way to delete this post and move it there. Sorry.

Edited by JeddG on 01/29/2010 17:52:06 MST.

I was listening to NPR interview an aid organization representative yesterday and he said do not donate tents or anything else, other than money!
The aid services do not have the time or the logistics to sort thru all the donations but they do know what to purchase if the had enough funds

He said after the Tsunami in Asia there was 4 lbs of medications donated for every person in that area- and most of it is still piled up somewhere in a warehouse. State of the art malaria drug are buried under piles of useless stuff and it could be put to use somewhere else.

He said the relief organizations are not set up for material donations but they know where and how to get the “right” stuff. He was very passionate about it.
Just my 2 cents

Edited by bestbuilder on 01/29/2010 17:59:27 MST.

Ah, ok. I knew that medicine was over-donated (and I hear sometimes they can't read the labels? ... that's scary), but I didn't know that everything else was, too. Thanks for informing us. I guess I'll just stick with cash.