More than six months after the devastating Haiti earthquake, some have wondered if there has been any progress rebuilding the country at all. It is even a question the media have posed. But if you ask Jordan Wong, he will tell you, without hesitation, there has been progress made. Who is Jordan Wong? He is a 28-year-old Sacramento resident who recently came back from Jacmel, Haiti, after volunteering there. “I felt a huge burden to go out of my comfort zone and to minister outside of my church,” Jordan said. “When the Haiti earthquake hit, it really got to me emotionally. So when the opportunity to go there came, I immediately said yes.” In early June, Jordan joined a team from the Sout

SACRAMENTO, CA – March 16, 2010 – Quick Quack Car Wash, a local chain of exterior-only, express car washes, has announced that it will be offering free car washes at all five Sacramento area locations on Tuesday, March 23rd from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm to thank customers and to encourage donations to support Haitian Roots, a non-profit organization focused on assisting and educating children in Haiti. In addition to donations from customers, Quick Quack also will donate to Haitian Roots an additional $1.00 for every customer who upgrades from the free basic wash package to the Best Wash package. All wash packages take only three minutes and self serve vacuums are available and always free for c

In photo left to right: David Fluitt, Raley's Pharmacy Supervisor and Haitian Aid Mission volunteer; Dawn Lindblom, American Red Cross Sacramento Sierra Chapter CEO; Michael Teel, Raley's President and CEO; Steve Turner, American Red Cross Sacramento Sierra Chapter Board Chair and Jennifer Teel-Wolter, Raley's Communitarian.   Local Red Cross Accepts Their Largest Donation for Haiti Relief    The Sacramento Sierra Chapter of the American Red Cross accepted their largest check for the Haiti Relief and Development Fund on Tuesday, March 9 from Raley’s President & CEO, Michael Teel. From January 16 through February 13, all 134 Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods and Food Source stores feature

 Dear Friends, The Haitian relief effort has been historic— a moving example of nations coming together to help a neighbor in need. As Americans, we should carry immense pride in our hearts of how our country, and particularly how the men and women of the U.S. Military, have answered the call to help Haiti rise from the rubble. As things stand today, the U.S. military presence is being phased out significantly for a number of political and strategic reasons. The medical and food aid that was responsive to the after-effects of the earthquake has transitioned into preparation for the inevitable rainy season that could start at any moment and ultimately the threat of hurricanes come June. T

Access Sacramento is hosting a 3 hour telethon on Friday February 26 in our TV Studio. We will be putting together crews to tape record three, one-hour programs that will then playback from 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM that same night. Produced in partnership with the "Buck-up or Shut Up!" event organized by the Sacramento Music Alliance, our combined efforts will ask local viewers to remember Haiti and ocntinue to donate. The devastating earthquake that killed so many and left so many more families homeless, will take many years to rebuild. Let's not forget them - Haitians of all ages still need our help. Sacramento musicians are joining together with Access Sacramento to bring this appeal to lo

Sacramento, Calif. — In an employee-led initiative, Voyage Home Loans donated over eight hundred dollars to UNICEF’s ongoing humanitarian relief effort for children in Haiti. The donations were collected by members of a team from KDND 107.9 “The End” in Sacramento. The contributions were a part of Voyage’s new Social Good Directive, which hopes to promote local, regional, and global Social Good awareness through Facebook in 2010. The project was led by Voyage’s Carly Harrington and Corinne Blackney, who quickly and efficiently brought the employees together and organized the donations in slightly over an hour’s time after hearing about The End’s efforts via the “Wake Up Call” morning show

Sacramento Kings forward Francisco Garcia, a native of the Dominican Republic, is leading an effort by Kings players to assist his neighboring country of Haiti by donating money on behalf of everyone in attendance at the Kings versus San Antonio Spurs game on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at ARCO Arena. “I’m deeply saddened by all the destruction in my neighboring country of Haiti, and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this tragedy,” Garcia said. “I’m hopeful our donation around the Spurs game will help make a positive difference in the lives of everyone in Haiti as they work toward recovery.” Garcia is donating $1 to the American Red Cross for everyone in attendance at the game,

The pictures in the newspapers, on TV and the Internet are devastating. The massive damage of the 7.0 earthquake is hard to imagine even when faced with screen shots. The international response to pull people from the rubble and get supplies in is heartening as is the millions of dollars raised by individual donors and a national star-studded telethon. At the same time, however, what is disheartening is to see the children. UNICEF estimates 380,000 children had already lost one or both parents before the quake and were left homeless when their orphanages collapsed. Now, as many as one million more have been left without one or both parents following the earthquake. UNICEF has warned the s

The Sacramento Chinese of Indochina Friendship Association is holding a fundraiser for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti this Friday, February 5. The fundraiser dinner will be held at Sacramento's Rice Bowl Seafood Restaurant and 100 percent of contributions will go to the American Red Cross to benefit the victims in Haiti. There will be entertainment, including dancing and singing, auctions (brand names purses, i.e. Louis Vuitton), and more. The dinner will be a 10-course Chinese food meal. "Please tell your friends to come and support this worthwhile and important fundraiser to help the people in Haiti who have suffered so much from the catastrophic earthquake that has killed ove

SWIM, SNORKEL OR SCUBA !!!   As most of you know the small Island of Haiti suffered and continues to suffer from a massive earthquake.  As a result of this The Northern California Swimstitute and SACSCUBA have partnered together to offer a unique fundraiser - DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING.   For every person who signs up to DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING - cost $70 per person - SACSCUBA & The Swimstitute will donate $40 to the American Red Cross to help the victims of the Haiti quake.  Very simple.  The date of the dive is:   FEBRUARY 6, 2010     Please call:  530-346-3483 Bring a friend and let's help out!

Seven local musicians are getting together at Old Ironsides this Friday to not only pay tribute to music legend Sam Cooke but also help with the Haiti earthquake relief effort. "Havin' a Party: A Tribute to Sam Cooke" was originally going to be just a show about Sam Cooke until concert organizer Jerry Perry saw the destruction in Haiti from the Jan. 12 earthquake. Perry decided to put on a benefit show to help. "When things like this happen, we like to try to put together relief shows," said Perry, who also organized relief benefit concerts for Hurricane Katrina and Sept. 11. "Whatever money we can raise through the door, we're going to take and give it to the Red Cross," he said. The

Jessica Summers-Miller is the owner of Loft 1513, a very chic clothing boutique located in San Francisco. Originally from Sacramento and Hiram Johnson High School graduate, doing a fashion show and sale in Sacramento was an easy choice for Jessica. Jessica also happened to be long time friends with Marcus and Kolea Marquez, who own L Wine Lounge, which was the venue for the night. The show came together in a very short period of time as they elected to do much more than just the typical fashion show. Proceeds from the sale portion of the fashion show as well as the bar tab would be donated to the Red Cross for Haiti earthquake relief. Jessica said she always wanted to do a super int

With the unparalleled devistation in Haiti, people have been coming up with creative means to raise money for relief efforts despite our dire economic times.  People like Charlie Simpson, 7, from Fulham, west London who set out to raise £500 ($812.25 US) by organizing a bike-a-thon has amassed over £110,000 ($162,450 US) and Lexi Caruthers, 10, from Encinitas, CA who hoped to raise $10 selling hand painted rocks that she gathered over the weekend raised $124.81.  In Sacramento, things are no different; nightclubs such as Punchline Comedy Club and Marilyn's on K have organized benefit shows, Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe has organized a bake sale and now The Coffee Garden is hosting an artwork raff

Solar Cookers International (SCI), a not-for-profit organization founded in 1987, announced the launch of the Haiti Project, which aims to send one complete solar cooking kit to at least 200 Haitian families that were devastated by the recent earthquake. The initial fundraising goal for this project is $8,000. Even before the disaster, SCI ranked Haiti as one of the top twenty countries in the world where solar cooking is poised to be very successful and tremendously beneficial. The recent earthquake, in combination with the country’s already scarce fuel and power resources, spells an immediate need for solar cooking training and supplies. Forty dollars is enough to provide one family wit

How donations are helping relief efforts:   Latest update from the American Red Cross Disaster Newsroom: * This is already the largest single-country personnel deployment in global Red Cross history. The number of emergency response teams in or en route to Haiti equals those that responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami – an emergency that spanned 14 countries. * It is clear that what took minutes to destroy will take many years and the collective support from governments and relief agencies across the world to help mend. The American Red Cross is working in close coordination with other responding organizations and will undoubtedly collaborate on joint, long-term recovery project

  According to Jewish tradition, the highest form of tzedakah, or charity, is to donate to a community fund, or kupah. Whether your donation is in the form of community service hours, survival materials or a monetary donation, it all helps to strengthen and build our community at large.   The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, and their overseas beneficiaries, work with a broad set of national and international institutes that span the world to provide relief, rescue, and reconstruction. The federation system is dedicated to inspiring community members to secure the financial and human resources necessary to achieve the mission of caring for those in need, without discrimination

In response to the recent 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti, the United States has reacted quickly to raise funds and send assistance. There are organizations across the country providing assistance and Sacramentans are also responding quickly to the devastated country's call for help. On Friday, Jan. 15 Sutter Health Systems announced that it will be donating $1.25 million to Haiti relief. The majority ($1 million) of the donation will go towards Doctors Without Borders and the rest will be used to fund medical supplies and fill cargo boxes with supplies. Another large company, has made it easy for customers to donate by setting up collection boxes at check stands throughout the company

Anita Webb, a volunteer with the Sacramento Sierra American Red Cross, talks to a person who has called in to donate to the relief efforts for the Haiti earthquake survivors. KCRA 3 and the American Red Cross are raising funds to help the victims in Haiti today until 7 p.m., The Call 3 volunteers will be taking your calls if you'd like to make a donation. As of 2:16pm $82,219 has been raised. Just call 916-447-2255.You can make a difference in the lives of people who have lost everything. If you would like to make a Red Cross donation online click here. SacPress Photo | Kati Garner

 In wake of the recent disaster in Haiti, many people are looking for ways to help the victims. There are various ways to do so on a local level, and some businesses are already making a difference. From big to small, fundraisers and donations are giving Sacramentans ways to reach out to Haiti. With the damage still unknown, there is still more we can do to help. Here’s what you can do to help with disaster relief in Haiti: -Local businesses and communities can take the initiative to raise and donate funds to the Sacramento-Sierra Chapter of the American Red Cross, whose spokeswoman Trista Jensen says, “The best thing that people can do right now is to make a donation.” KCRA 3 is joinin

As part of a nationwide effort, two local women are putting together a vegan bake sale with proceeds benefiting the American Red Cross relief effort in Haiti. Toni Okamoto and Amy Galvan are going to be selling vegan baked goods at R5 Records(2500 16th Street, Sacramento, CA 95818.) this Saturday the 16th from 10:00 AM to 3:00PM and encourage everyone to participate. Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of several vegan cookbooks, is helping organize the effort and has a website devoted to a listing of vegan bake sales nationwide. Come out, support Haiti and enjoy a delicious vegan snack or two this Saturday! http://theppk.com/blog/2010/01/13/vegan-bake-sales-for-haiti/   Sacramento Vegan Ba