As the world heard of the earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale, which struck Haiti, and the images and videos started to stream in highlighting the utter destruction of the small Caribbean country, Haitian ex-pats are doing their part to raise more awareness that help is needed in a major way. "This is the time for the Diaspora … to step up,” Tweeted Wyclef. Organize drives for water, bare necessities (from sanitary napkins to toilet paper to canned goods) and send money to the organization that you feel will best provide assistance. Below are a few to choose from:
Wyclef's Yele Foundation: Text 'Yele' to 501501 to donate $5 to YELE
HAITI, and the proceeds will go to the earthquake relief. Contact them to find out if you can volunteer to assist in the organization of the relief efforts.
UNICEF: They send essentials and basic medical supplies. Already on its way to the country are 10,000 tarpaulins, 4,600 water containers,
5.5 million water-purification tablets, 556,000 oral rehydration
sachets and other supplies to meet the basic needs of up to 10,000
families. Supply shipments for an additional 20,000 families are in the
works for the coming days. Please contact 1800-4UNICEF or visit Unicef.org to find out how else you can assist.
RED Cross: "Haiti" to 90999 and a donation of $10 will be made automatically to the Red Cross relief efforts.
Habitat for Humanity: Make a donation for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for people in need
regardless of race or religion. Visit www.habitatforhumanity.com.
World Food Programme: This organization gets food to where it is needed when emergencies strike. They have a staff on the ground and are ready to provide relief. Visit www.wfp.org/lateshow to make a donation.
To find out about relatives: Call (888) 407-4747.
Note: As we donate, please be aware of scammers claiming to seek funds for Haiti when they are only seeking funds for their pockets. According to the FBI, there are plenty of online scams occurring, so only make donations directly on the site of the organization you have faith in.
With hits like "Love T.K.O.," "Turn Off the Lights," "Close the Door," and "I Don't Love Your Anymore, Teddy Pendergrass, the singer with the velvetly baritone voice that melted the hearts of women every where died yesterday after a long battled with colon cancer. He was 59 years old.
According to this song, Teddy Pendergrass, III, the singer, who was in a devasting car crash that left him paralyzed, underwent colon cancer surgery
eight months ago and had "a difficult recovery,” his son said. "To all his fans who loved his music, thank you. He will live on through his music."
Pendergrass
suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in
the 1982 car accident. He spent six months in a hospital but returned
to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.” He returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair.
Pendergrass
later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose
mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries
achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing,
productivity and independence, according to its Web site.
Pendergrass, who was born in Philadelphia on March 26, 1950, gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. In 1971, the group signed a record deal with the legendary writer/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
The group released it first single, “I Miss You,” in 1972 and then
released “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Pendergrass
quit the group in 1975 and embarked on a solo career in 1976. It was
his solo hits that brought him his greatest fame as he came
to define a new era of black male singers with his powerful, aggressive
vocals that spoke to virility, not vulnerability.
Known as the little girl with the big voice, Stephanie Mills' vocals produces the strength of women twice her size. And we're obsessed with it. So while this video isn't of great quality (filmed by a fan during Sinbad's now defunct, Summer Jam Tour in the Caribbean), and she was sick with the flu (hence some cracking), the mesmerizing way she owns this song, which she first sang when she starred as Dorothy in The Wiz on Broadway, makes her one of our music talents we love to celebrate most. Enjoy!
We've all been there, typing furiously about the current bane of our existence, knowing full well that if we send off that missive we can never take those words back. It's a hard lesson learned by celebs who write worse than they speak and do so in a public forum. They. Can. Never. Take. It. Back. To that note, there were some great revealing thoughts last year and Jumpoff.tv captured them in a hilarious hall of fame.
