Write For Haiti

This week my family has been talking about the earthquake in Haiti. It's really bad there. People are starving, thirsty, and people are dying on the streets and buried under rubble. Some people in Haiti may never know if their family and friends are alive. So many people in Haiti trying to help don't even have time to bury the dead. They just throw them in one big pit. In one place in Haiti people there have set up a "neighborhood" made out of sheets and sticks. There's also a "store" where people put stuff on a blanket and trade whatever they have to get supplies they need. There are also food drops where helicopters and planes drop boxes of food or bottled water. Every time there is a food drop, people are fighting over food and water, and who gets what.

Everybody is trying to help the people in Haiti. But some people think that they should take care of their problems themselves because we have our own problems to take care of. But that's not what our family thinks personally. We are really lucky to have what we do. We have a stable house, food, water, and we aren't starving or wondering if our family or friends are alive or not.

Our family donated money to help. We wanted to make sure it was going to an organization that gave all the money to Haiti. We did a lot of research and found an organization that President Obama set up. It is led by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. One hundred percent of the money they raise is sent to Haiti to help everyone there. It is called The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

We also heard that George Clooney is doing a concert this Friday to raise money for Haiti. Famous people donate their time and talents by performing and helping people know what's happening in Haiti and encouraging people to give their money to help.

My brother and I were wishing we could do something like that, too. We tried to think of a way that we could share our talents as a way to help raise money for Haiti. We thought about our talents and what we could do quickly to help. One of my talents is writing and one of my brother's talents is drawing. My mom thought of a way to raise money quickly using these talents. A Blog-a-thon! Some people do walk-a-thons and jog-a-thons, but we are going to do a blog-a-thon called "Write For Haiti."

Starting tomorrow, on my blog right here, I will write an original short story every day this week and my brother will illustrate them with a picture or two. People are invited to pledge however much they would like to "Write For Haiti." Anyone who is willing to commit can either comment or email me (or my mom and dad) and let me know how much they will give per word, per every ten words, per sentence, or whatever they like. Then you can match the amount donated for my brother's pictures and that's how much you'll give.

On average, my short stories are around 1,000 words each and I promise to keep my daily stories to about that amount or no more than 2,000 words. So, for example, if someone promised one cent per word and I write a 1,000-word story every day, that would be $10/day, or $50. By matching your pledge for my brother's pictures, that would be $20/day, or $100. If that seems like too much, you may want to pledge one cent per 10 words, so that would be $1/day, or $5. By matching your pledge for my brother's illustrations, that would be $2/day, or $10.

On Saturday, we'll count up the totals and check our pledges and let you know the amount. ALL of the money we raise will be donated to The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Just last night, I was reading a book called "Chicken Soup For The Preteen Soul." It had a bunch of stories about kids who raised money for a worthy cause and I thought how cool that must be to help raise money for something big. Now that I'm doing this, I have butterflies in my stomach. I am so excited to do this.

I'll be writing a story every day. So keep watching my blog.

By doing this, you could be saving a person's life. You could be even saving a family of four's life. We really appreciate the help.

Thank you so much for committing. Again, we really appreciate it.