Last Updated on: 15th May 2016, 05:57 pm
I got my Snopes email, and once again, it gave me something to talk about.
This Snopes article details the true ways in which you can donate to the Haiti relief efforts and separates them from the complete horseshit. There are a lot of ways you can donate, and boy is there a lot of horseshit.
The ability to text a word to a number which would donate a few bucks to that charity’s Haiti effort is an awesome idea. I have heard lots of American numbers. I need to find some Canadian ones. I also think it’s super Awesome beyond words that T-Mobile is allowing people to call Haiti for free, at least until the end of the month. When a big corporation does something that cool, they need to be commended for it.
What I cannot stand is this little sentence I found amid all the messages that Snopes had collected about donating to relief efforts:
This is currently making the rounds on Facebook posts…”Please donate: Text “HAITI” to 90999 and $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross. Or text “yele” to 501501 to donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s group.” Any truth to this at all? And if so, where is the money coming from for the donation, my phone bill?
Well duh, of course it is. Where do you think it’s coming from? Are you expecting a big company to do the donating for you? Do you just want to feel good by punching a few buttons, but not actually pay any money out of your pocket?
Part of me feels guilty, because maybe this is taken out of context. Maybe the person is assuring themselves that they won’t have to fork over credit card numbers. But I have seen the other sentiment before, so it wouldn’t surprise me either.
And people need to stop making up those hoaxes saying “for every message forwarded or every Facebook status changed to say a certain thing, big companies will hand over some dough.” They won’t, that’s bullshit, stopstopstopstop.
Ok, I said I would go look up the Canadian number for donating via text. It appears to be being run by the Salvation Army, not the Red Cross, if you’re Canadian. According to their website, Text the word “Haiti” to 45678 on any Bell, Rogers or Telus mobile phone, and please, for the love of Pete, reply with yes to finalize the donation, you silly people. They need to verify that you indeed want to do this before they take the money.
And here’s another tip from your resident dumbass. Do not google Haiti stuff by typing “donate to Haiti relief funds” or other such generic search terms. Go to other sites and search that way. Or if you google, check the link before clicking it. I just gave myself another scare and nearly infected myself with who knows what. When will I ever fucking learn? Perhaps I need a “that was dumb” tag. Now I am afraid to reboot until I set Nod loose on my computer. Fucking heartless bastards taking advantage of crises. May you die a fiery death.