PayPal becomes obstacle to our Haiti Relief Run

I've invaded the marathon man's blog for the course of training for our Haiti Relief Run. Hi from the ultra-wife!

So, PayPal's turned into a huge obstacle in our fundraising effort. I wrote to them last Friday when we launched this campaign, in the hopes that they'd waive their commission on each payment so that 100% of the funds received could go to purchase medical equipment. Their fee is 2.9% + 30¢. The fee is pretty competitive (for example, FirstGiving charges 7.5% of total donations received), but I thought PayPal might be willing to waive the fee in light of the humanitarian disaster.

Well, have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? It's been 5 days of that. PayPal just responds with canned automated drivel, doesn't read anything I send them, won't let me speak to a decision-maker on the telephone. It's been exasperating. Not only have they failed to waive their fee, but they've put a limitation on my account until I supply them with proof of my tax-exempt status. But I can't provide them with that proof, because I am just an individual trying to take advantage of an amazing discount on medical equipment for disaster relief. I still hold some hope that a thinking person will read through my messages, think about it for a few seconds, and clear the situation. But if they don't, Borut and I will make the total whole at the end of our fundraising to make sure that 100% of your donations make it to Haiti.

I want to thank all of you that have helped, it means a tremendous amount to both of us. We've raised over $1000 so far, but have a long way to go. We'd also like to thank all of you who have written to us to let us know that you've already made donations through other organizations. It's been so wonderful to hear of the outpouring of support from all of us that are in a position to help. So thanks, it's all about the end goal.

The news we are getting from Haiti is grim. Today's aftershock was intense, and I can only imagine the terror that each person in Port-au-Prince must have experienced. Partners in Health reports the following: "Our team on the ground reaffirms that the reports of violence on the streets of Port-au-Prince have been grossly exaggerated and have become a major obstacle to mounting the response needed to save tens of thousands of lives each day." Please, can someone tell me who wins with the scaremongering? It's pathetic and deadly.

It's been a rough week of training. On Sunday I was scheduled to run 13K, but the gym closed early and we had to cut our workout short. So I ran 8K @ 9K/h and then booked it for 2K @ 14K/h at the end. Tuesday was hills, and that's just rough no matter which way you slice it. And then today, I finally ran the 13K, but had to book it again. I was late getting to the gym because I was wasting time firing off missives to PayPal, and by the time I got there I was so frustrated, that all I wanted to do was run hard. I finished the 13K in 70 mins. I don't think I've ever run that fast for that long.

Doing what we can

Fundraising is always a tricky process, and what I realized is that it has become extremely competitive as well. Haiti is a case in point. Overnight, international organizations, pop artists, ex presidents (the B.Clinton and G.W.Bush initiative) and sportsmen (read Tiger Woods looking to rehab his image) have launched a Haiti relief effort of some sort. The danger - too much money overwhelms the system. Even in delivering aid there's such a thing as a bottleneck. That makes sense. When infrastructure is destroyed and local community devastated, getting the aid to the needy is both a logistical and a security challenge. Case in point: Haiti. Since the earthquake, we have witnessed an increase in violence and international organizations are struggling to process the aid and spend the money wisely and most importantly, in an accountable manner. This is not meant to discourage you from giving or helping. By all means do, and Haiti needs help and will need help going forward. But do check the organization before you donate, and try to match your donation with the organization that at least has experience and people on the ground in Haiti today.

Because a lot has been said on the net in the last days about misuse of funds - i.e the accusations against Yele Haiti setup by a member of the Fugees - I want to tell you a bit more about our own fundraiser. When we started we did some research into the immediate and medium term needs in Haiti. It turned out these are medical teams, equipment, water and rescue dogs. Then we considered how best we can help - should we go there and help on the ground or try to raise funds? Going to Haiti seemed unreasonable - the airport is shut, and once there, what experience do we have in providing valuable assistance? It didn't take long to shelve this option.

The next best thing was to link up with a charity that has provided medical service and equipment in Haiti, and is on the ground now. That's why we decided to link up with Partners in Health. They've been in Haiti since 1987 and have a strong track record of and infrastructure for delivering medical assistance in Haiti. After talking to them, we assessed that medical equipment was most needed and here we had a way to do it - through Balton, the Polish producer of medical equipment, which has agreed to give us the equipment at half price. This means that for every euro raised we are able to buy 2 euros worth of equipment.

So far, we have raised 730 euros. This is still a way off our target - 10,000 euros. But with your generous help, we can make it!

Training report: this weekend was great with a cumulative distance run = 55km.

Keep the faith!