On Tuesday, an earthquake devestatedthe capitol of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.  By Thursday, Wyclef Jean, known for his successful music career, had founded the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund.  Besides asking for financial donations to help survivors, Jean also requests that we get involved in the Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr National Day of Service.

Even before an official death count could be confirmed, estimates put it at over 100,000.  To put this into perspective, a little over 40,000 students attend the University of Michigan.  The images of Haiti since Tuesday are reminiscent of the chaos and destruction in New Orleans that followed Hurricane Katrina.  But Jean, a Haitian-American, and other individuals and organizations including the Clintons and the Red Cross have quickly begun coordinating relief efforts.

In his email sent via a list-serve for RockTheVote.org, Jean called the “crisis in Haiti… a powerful reminder that we must live life for others.”  His bloghas been revamped to feature information about Yele prominently which includes the ability to donate to the fund via text message.

To find out what you can do, visit any of the websites mentioned above.  Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Wyclef Jean reminds us that ”Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?”

-B.C.Bodnar