"Haiti don't need no more photo ops!"

Said Wyclef Jean on Oprah today. He said they need more resources actually delivered to the people. Essentially, less people getting their picture taken "doing good" and more food and water and medicine in the hands of the people.

Sometimes my church gets criticized for not "being out there" or not helping enough. The issue is not that they aren't giving help, it's that their marketing strategy is too humble. The Church "don't need no photo op." We quietly send millions of dollars and pounds of supplies when tragedy strikes, we just don't broadcast it on CNN. If you want to read about more of the things the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is doing in Haiti, see our Humanitarian website.

Lots of places are taking donations, but if you are looking for a trusted place to donate, with an intact infrastructure already in place for delivery of good, including deployed self-supplied units of doctor, donate to the LDS Emergency Response Fund.

"SALT LAKE CITY 18 January 2010
Haitians gather outside of the LDS Centrale Ward chapel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. © Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Shipments of relief aid from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in Haiti over the weekend, including a large shipment of 85,000 pounds of supplies from Miami. That shipment included emergency resources such as food, blankets, tents and tarps. Latter-day Saint missionaries assisted in unloading the supplies.

Two more shipments of food, medical supplies and other items have been trucked in containers from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. The latest of those shipments arrived on Saturday. Additional Church shipments from the United States and the Dominican Republic are planned for this week and will include supplies specifically requested by local Church leaders on the ground.
“We’re encouraged that aid is reaching the ‘end of the row’ and helping those who are in need,” said Nate Leishman, manager of the Church’s humanitarian emergency response efforts. “In disasters like this one, the logistics of moving aid to where it is most needed can be difficult, but we’re now having success in getting supplies in.”
A team of doctors sent by the Church to help the injured in Haiti left the Salt Lake airport on Sunday evening and is scheduled to arrive in Haiti this evening. The team includes 14 doctors and nurses and two family services specialists. The group is self-contained and carrying their own medical supplies, which will be augmented by additional supplies being sent separately. (See a Deseret News story for an account of the doctors’ departure.) Another small group of physicians from the Dominican Republic and coordinated by the Church is already working in Haiti.
Seven Latter-day Saint chapels in Haiti are being used as shelters for over 4,000 people from the community. All of the Church’s chapels in Haiti are left largely undamaged by the quake, and many are being used in the relief effort.
As with any emergency or disaster, details and events can quickly change. While the Church strives to provide the most accurate information available, real-time specifics may vary from what is provided here. For instance, some of the dates and the origins of Church shipments announced last week have changed, but the general substance of what is being sent remains the same.