Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Maine Friends for Haiti holding ‘raffle’ to benefit Haiti

Maine Friends of Haiti, a group working to get aid to Haiti, is holding a raffle of sorts to spur more giving to the island nation.

Mary Doyle of the group asked that I post a link to the YouTube video that tells of the Maine people and groups that have traveled to help the earthquake-ravaged nation or have given in other ways, from coin drives, school plays, benefit concerts to art sales, solar panels and used sails donated for shelters.

The video also tells of the Maine-Haiti Statewide $1,000 Map Challenge Raffle. If I understand the raffle correctly, the name of each of Maine’s towns and cities is listed on a map and for the name of the community to be highlighted, just one person has to indicate that they have done something , anything for Haiti relief. That person then gets a ticket for the raffle. The ticket’s are not for sale; you get them by doing something for Haiti.

“You have to do something for Haiti to earn it,” according to the Maine Friends of Haiti website. “It’s a raffle that recognizes the caring nature of Mainers. It’s a raffle that challenges every town and city in Maine to get involved.”

Also – and I’ve e-mailed Ms. Doyle about this and I’ll update the information if I am completely off the mark – the winner of the raffle gets to pick which agency helping Haiti gets the $1,000. The winner doesn’t get a prize, per se, simply the pleasure of picking a nonprofit to get the $1,000.

Anyway, below is the link to the video and Maine Friends of Haiti website address.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4zi_c-zI4o

http://www.mainefriendsofhaiti.org/

Bookmark and Share

1 comment:

  1. Mary Doyle responded quickly with an answer regarding the challenge raffle. Below are a few passages from her reply e-mail clarifying things just a bit. – KM
    “Yes, you are correct. The winner of the raffle does not receive the $1000. They have the opportunity to decide which non-profit working in Haiti will receive the $1,000 prize.
    “The entire raffle is set up in a very different way. The major intention of the Map Challenge and the raffle is to keep the need to help Haiti alive and to hopefully encourage Mainers to inspire others to do something.
    “It is a unique raffle in so many ways. It’s about ‘earning’ a raffle ticket. It’s about winning the $1000 for some organization helping Haiti.
    “I guess you could say it's a raffle that is participatory on many levels and very giving in nature. It has been set up as a tool to recognize worthy actions, to increase awareness, and to motivate. It was designed with the intention of promoting state unity and cooperation and action in helping Haiti.”
    Again, here are the links to the video and the website:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4zi_c-zI4o
    www.mainefriendsofhaiti.org

    ReplyDelete