Recently, the Red Cross has come under fire for building only six homes after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, despite having received $500 million in relief money. The American Red Cross is the biggest NGO (non-governmental organization) operating in Haiti and bad publicity affects all groups, including ourselves, who are attempting to bring positive change to the island.
Many people assume that Haiti itself is an impossible cause, but this is not true. While Haiti has its challenges, the Red Cross and other large organizations have seen massive relief effort failures in other countries, including the U.S. Their inefficiencies are magnified in a country like Haiti, where progress requires an in-depth knowledge of local politics and culture.
Friends of Humanity is a U.S.-based charitable organization, but unlike large charities, we operate continuously on the ground. We do not simply visit Haiti. We are tied to a group that has been successfully operating in Haiti for over 50 years. We do not make overly ambitious promises because we know how things work in Haiti. Change occurs one step at a time, in small rather than dramatic ways.
International relief efforts are usually cut off from the people they help. They may bring in shiploads of rice, but they do not know the families who will eat that rice. We do. So we are well aware that any inefficiency on our part means a child we know by name will go to bed hungry. In other words, we are personally accountable.
We have no salaries and no offices and no public relations team. Our volunteers pay their own way, or raise their own funds, to travel to Haiti. Close to 100% of all donations go directly to the people we are here to help.
It is important to separate the government and the power structure from the average person. Sadly, the average Haitian suffers when scandals such as this arise because potential donors decide, “There is no point in trying to help Haiti.” Nothing could be further from the truth. We save lives every day. Is that worth $1 or even $100 to you? We believe it is.
We gratefully acknowledge Sandra and Victor Fuller and the Fuller Family Foundation for their belief in this mission and for leading with a very generous donation.
We gratefully acknowledge Eli and Edy Broad and the Broad Foundation for their generous support of our work.
We thank Connie and John Cioffi and the Cioffi Foundation for their generosity.
Thank you to Neiman Marcus for their support at our recent fundraising event. Read more about it under News and Events.
Thank you to Mr. George Wilson for generously donating $1,000 and 100 bags of black beans to feed the children of House of Hope.
We thank Ms. Madana who continues to donate large amounts of food each month for House of Hope orphanage.
We are grateful to Ken and Judy Langner of Lake Stevens, WA for pledging a donation of $600 a year for three years.
We would like to thank Tina Cornely and her nonprofit, Bridging Humanity, for collecting diapers and goods for House of Hope. 
We would like to thank the Rotary Club of Miami Shores for their ongoing support. 
We are grateful to Great HealthWorks for a donation of $500 toward the Sanitation Project.
Winston Delawar Photograhy/Suzanne Delawar Studios graciously donate photography as our official photographers at all events.