Helping Haiti – A Silent Auction

** Update: Over the weekend, we got offers from many fab people, like Heartspun Quilts, Minick & Simpson, Bari J, and Fig Tree Quilts, to donate quilts & other items to the auction!! Thank you guys sooooo much. I will be adding items starting today, and as soon as they are posted you can begin bidding! **

Everyone knows by now what is going on in Haiti. I don’t think I need to launch into a description of the devastation there; it’s already on the front page of every newspaper, blog, etc. Haiti was already one of the poorest nations in the world, and now this.

So, very quickly, because it’s not a glamorous situation and this is not a glamorous event, we want to play a part in showing Haitians that we, the rest of the world, do care. More importantly, we won’t stop caring once this earthquake is no longer headlining news. Yesterday, I heard a foreign correspondent comment that, this is not just about recovery for Haiti. This is a chance to rebuild the weak, now collapsed, infrastructure of this nation.

This is what we want to do… we want to use our resources to raise money for several trusted organizations who are sending workers, supplies, and relief into Haiti, by auctioning off some of our Fat Quarter Shop quilt samples and fabrics. More items will be added throughout next week.

NON-PROFITS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Here is a list of organizations, big and small, we would like to support. This list of course is not a complete list of all the charities and non-profits working in Haiti, but ones that we trust to use all of their donations purposefully. If you know of one you think ought to be here, please send us info. (Forgive my hastiness – I’ll be adding details as to what each organization is doing in Haiti.) If you feel led to donate directly to these non-profits — please do!

• Real Hope for Haiti, a rescue center run by the Zachary family in Cazale, about 1 1/2 hours away from Port Au Prince. They are housing about 60 malnourished kids/orphans now, but are looking for alternative housing since their building is damaged. Click here to donate via Paypal.
• World Vision (Brenda Riddle talks about them on her blog.)
• Red Cross (Please select Haiti Relief and Development when you donate)
• Heartline Ministries (Haiti Relief page), headquartered in Port Au Prince. They have now set up a medical clinic as of today, Monday 1/18.
• World Wide Village (Read the Livesay family blog for real, honest updates about life there right now.)

HOW TO BID
I will be posting quilts for auction on the blog on the following posts. You can click on the button above, which will be on our sidebar, for a list of all the items up for auction. Each quilt will have its own entry. Submit your bid in a comment with your first and last name (or a nickname — something you will know!). If you are the first bid, your bid must be higher than the minimum bid, and if you are not first, your bid must be higher than the previous commenter.

We will close the auctions at noon on January 29th and announce the winners of each quilt. If you are a winner, please immediately donate the amount of your winning bid (or more! up to you!) to the organization of your choice from the list above. Then, e-mail or fax proof of your donation to jocelyn@fatquartershop.com, and once we receive that we will send you your quilt.

OTHER DONATIONS
Already, even before this blog was posted, our dear Joanna Figueroa responded to a tweet, to say she would match a FQS donation of $1,000; AND she is also donating a quilt to the cause. This is wonderful. It has already begun

In direct donations, we are donating $1,000, plus Joanna’s match brings us to $2,000 so far. And more direct donations to list soon!

You guys have always astounded me in your outpouring of responses. I know you won’t let us down now! If you would like to join in on your blog by auctioning off some of your quilts and other crafts, please do! Send us or comment on this post with the link to your auction, and I will compile a list of your auction items.

Please watch in the next few days for items added to the silent auction, and please tell everyone you know!