Sharing the Wealth

In a recent blog entry (actually this morning) I wrote about donating 50% of my personal print sales to registered charities and organizations to share support for the Haiti earthquake victims.

In a manner of hours I managed to get two newspapers to do interviews of me and why I chose to do this. The idea was inspired by Nick Zantop's blog post located here

I believe as artists and photographers, business owners and creative professionals that it is important to not only create work that touches people.. Not only to create work and deliver a service that enriches lives.. preserve memories, makes moments enjoyable.. but to funnel our creativity and focus to make the world a slightly better place through using our talents and skills.

So I'm interested now if anyone has a similar philosophy, or has done something like this (supporting a cause through photography) and what your thoughts are on such things in general.

You can read my blog about Haiti here:
http://www.karljohnsto​n.com/blog

I have always supported worthwhile charities. I support some feed the children type foundations and wildlife rescue foundations on a monthly basis. I don't feel that it should take a natural disaster to make want to open our wallets. I think what you are doing is great and if many more did it on a sustainable basis the world would be a better place. However we have to realize that no matter how much the little guy does the poor and the hungry will probably stay that way.

Karl, Thank you for doing a part in helping those in Haiti. My daughter and I arrived in Haiti 30 minutes before the earthquake hit. We had gone on a missions trip to photograph the work at an orphanage in Port Au Prince. The devestation we saw was beyond comprehension. Thankfully we were able to be evacuated the 14th.

It breaks my heart to see the news stories and to realize that those people who already had next to nothing have lost what little they had. As an FYI Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere with malnutrition a leading cause of death in children, and many, some reports say 70+% living on less than $1 a day. And now this.

Again, thank you for caring.

Made the front page news today
excuse the hat; it was cold out and it was the only one I could find.
I've seen a few of the pictures from down there and couldn't believe it. I used to do EMS before photography, though I didn't get very far with it, I still have a bit of the "adrenaline junkie" gene. Makes me wish I could do more. I felt useless, so in a small way I hope this will encourage other people that one person can make a difference.

Similar to the way high fashion photographer Nick Zantop inspired me to do this..if one man can inspire one so far away to do such a small part, imagine what the other 6 500-15 000 people who read his blog could do.

It breaks my heart to see so many people in need and not able to do anything yourself. A lot of people who heard about me doing this said they like the idea...because they believed that by donating a small sum of $20-100 wouldn't make a difference when people in masses, countries and businesses were donating millions. They also not only get a little bit of pride out of it that they're making a difference..they can see that on their wall, afterward. Tell people about it for years to come.

Just yesterday I had word that the NWT gov't donated 50-100 thousand $$$ to the Canadian Red Cross. I'm not sure if reading about me had anything to do with that, though it would be cool if it did. If I can inspire just one person (similarly to the way Nick did me) then it makes all the difference.

If one person bought one of my collector's editions then that would generate more money than I could afford to donate in 4 months on my own. For those that wonder, too, yes I am a regular member of the Canadian Red Cross and I do have a representative within the organization giving me the permission to do this.

I have been with Heifer for a long time.

As to this particular emergency, I answered president Obama's call and went to Whitehouse.gov and on to the http://clintonbushhait​ifund.org/ website for donations there.

As you said, Karl, ALL donations are needed.

Rad

Definitely, and there are tons of charities out there too.

Red cross is the one I hear so much about, being one of the major ones down there right now. It's amazing how many people band together in a crisis. I doubt many in North America knew where Haiti was (I didn't, admittedly) before the earthquake and now they're really putting in an effort to make amends to the situation and life the people of the country have to live.

From an economist's point of view ..think about how much incredible damage that earthquake must have done to the gov't, the economy and the sustainability of the nation. With as many donations as they got, they're still not going to have enough to rebuild an entire country which makes establishing a sustainable development a priority...from an academic's point of view, too, I can't dream up what the country will do to come out of that mess.