Tony: Just A Bit Of Local Criticism of Help Haiti Efforts

Right now I’m searching for something, ANYTHING to watch other than really self-righteous celebrities sound so sad about the suffering of Haiti – Which most of them found out about less than two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the subject of Haiti still dominates the TV news headlines and it’s slowly being discovered that celebrities like Wyclef Jean might not be able to save the world with their poorly run charities.

Even better, there is just a tiny bit of Internet backlash regarding a local Haiti relief effort that’s worth just a tiny mention. It seems that the numbers related to media events in this town might be held up to scrutiny once again.

Earlier in the week Bob Walkenhorst and The Elders among others claimed to have raised nearly $5k for the Red Cross with a benefit concert at The Record Bar. I linked the PR type release without much afterthought. Then a comment gave me a brief moment of pause. Check it:

“I’m going to call bullshit on this one. The cover charge was what, $10? That means they had 500 people in there? That room has a capacity of 250. And the bar/wait staff has the capacity to serve maybe 75. Anybody know if RB took their standard 20% pay-to-play cut? If so, that’s a pretty good night for the RB'”

The math adds up but assumes that there weren’t any bigger donations than just a cover charge . . . That’s a natural assumption for all of the cheapskates on the Internet. Meanwhile, I tend to take the participants of the event at their word given their generosity in donating time. In the final analysis, what’s ultimately disheartening for me is the realization that the end of the life cycle for this story is approaching and locals (like me) are already starting to lose interest in the tale of Haiti’s devastation despite the fact that their struggle will go on long after the news media’s gaze turns elsewhere.

Tony Botello