January 12, 2010 was the day that impacted and changed an entire country. Over 111,000 deaths have been recorded at this time. Latest estimates confirm that nearly 200,000 men, women, and children have died or will die as a direct result of the 7.0 earthquake that occurred that fateful day in Haiti. As of this moment, there are hundreds of thousands of Haitians in need of urgent supplies – food, water, and medical aid being the top priorities. Nearly two million people are now homeless and looking to the rest of the world to come to their aid.
As more information is released onto the Internet regarding the plight of the Haitian population, an increasing number of organizations, businesses and groups are stepping up to help those in desperate need. One interesting and normally extremely competitive group to emerge among those giving aid is a partnership of web hosting companies.
Partnering with the American Red Cross, the following web hosting companies have joined forces to help Haitians affected by the recent earthquake:
- Rackspace
- Peer1 Hosting
- GoGrid
- The Planet
- ServInt
- HostGator
- SingleHop
- Laughing Squid
- HostDime
- iWeb
- Site5
- SoftLayer
- Blue Box Group
- Webair
- VPS.NET
These companies are joining forces to help collect donations and are actively spreading awareness of the plight of those left behind in the wake of this horrible tragedy. Hosting For Haiti provides a direct link to the International Response Fund. 100% of the money donated will go to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development fund. Assistance provided may include relief workers mobilization, sending relief supplies, and providing financial resources for recovery. The Hosting For Haiti web site also encourages browsers to share the web site’s URL with friends and family and to get the word out via Twitter.
Tragedy on the scale of the Haitian earthquake can affect humanity as a whole. One of the defining moments of humanity is when we can set aside our normally competitive natures and come together to help those in desperate need. The web hosting companies that have joined forces to create Hosting For Haiti have set the bar for this definition. I encourage you to set your own bar by visiting Hosting For Haiti as well as the participating web hosting companies listed. Do your part to assist Haiti.