[UPDATE]: In the comments, rfm2113 was gracious enough to post a link to a preliminary list of organizations where you can donate to helping people recovering from the Haiti earthquake. -bbs
As many of you now already know, a massive earthquake has decimated Haiti with the death toll estimated in the thousands. The tremor was so powerful nothing like it had been felt on the island of Hispaniola in over 200 years. Untold numbers of people are likely still trapped under the rubble. This type of earthquake is something we in the United States have not experienced since the city of San Francisco was nearly wiped off the map in 1906. Millions of Haitians were affected by yesterday's quake, and it is a catastrophe that also affects Haitian-born Americans or Haitian-Americans with family back in Haiti.
One of those people is Colts wideout Pierre Garçon.
Pierre has several family members and friends in Haiti, and they were no doubt affected by the calamity that hit the country yesterday. Pierre Tweeted this yesterday:
Asking you guys for your prayers for my family, friends, and people of Haiti...A major earthquake has hit the capital of Haiti......
Pierre has also posted pictures on his Twitter page and additional updates on his Facebook page, showing how the devastation has affected so many people there. To give you an idea of how destructive this quake was, Pierre posted before and after photos of Haiti's National Palace, which is sort of similar to our White House or US Capitol building. You can see the photos after the jump.
I have no information on places to donate to yet. When I can find that info, I'll post it. For now, Pierre is asking people to support Haiti by adding the flag of Haiti to their Twitter or Facebook account profile pictures.
Obviously, when something like this happens, silly things like football take a seat in the trunk. Our hearts and minds go out to Pierre, his family, and the people of Haiti.
These are images from Pierre's Facebook account. Here is the National Palace before the quake:
And here it is after:
Please keep in mind that people might very well still be trapped in that building, along with others. Use the comments to provide additional information on this disaster and to send some positive words to Pierre and his fellow Haitians.
I ask you to please refrain from asking questions like "How will this affect Pierre's game on Saturday night?" Football is meaningless right now. This is about life and death. Please keep that in mind as you post here. Many thanks.