We’ve added a few more charities to our original post, including details of charities based in New Zealand and of a fund that’s been set up to support the Sanson-Rejouis family.

The most recent updates include details for the Salvation Army and UNHCR, as well as how to make a donation via Médecins Sans Frontières Australia. If there is a charity or organisation that we missed or you feel should be on the list, please leave a comment below or on the original post.

For the latest news, please be sure to Yahoo!7 News for full coverage of the events in Haiti.

Kate
Community Manager

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Photo by Globovisión

Yesterday afternoon, the island nation of Haiti was struck by an earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Richter scale, centred 10 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince. The quake caused wide scale damage and devastation, levelling schools and hospitals. Thousands are either dead, missing or trapped under debris; the death toll is currently estimated at over 100,000.

• How do earthquakes happen?

Amid the pain and suffering however, there are stories of amazing escapes and miracles emerging. It has been confirmed that a QLD couple, living in Haiti, have been reported as safe. But the risk of disease spreading is increasing with Haiti’s Prime Minister appealing to the world for urgent assistance. The Australian and New Zealand governments are currently working on aid plans, with aid agencies mobilising.

At times like this, it is important that the community join forces to offer support.

On Answers, we form a community of collective knowledge- but in the real world, together, we create a collective bound together by one thing: humanity, and the ability to endure. And in times like these, it’s important to remember that, and to help others persevere.

According to the Associated Press, “it was clear from a tour of the capital that tens of thousands of people had lost their homes and that many had perished. Many buildings in Haiti are flimsy and dangerous even under normal conditions.”

To learn more about how you can send your support to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti please follow the links below:

• CARITAS Australia (donate now)
• World Vision (donate now)
• Oxfam Australia (donate now)
• Médecins Sans Frontières (donate now)
• UNICEF Australia (donate now)
• Australian Red Cross (donate now)
• Plan Australia (donate now)
  
• Compassion Australia (donate now)
• CBM Australia (donate now)
• ADRA (donate now)
• Save the Children Australia (donate now)
• Rotary International
• Care Australia (donate now)
• Oxfam New Zealand (donate now)
• Save the Children New Zealand (donate now)
• Red Cross New Zealand (donate now)
• UNICEF New Zealand (donate now)
• The Salvation Army (donate now)
• UNHCR (donate now)

In addition, anyone in New Zealand who wishes to support the Sanson-Rejouis family in their efforts and recovery may contribute to the BNZ Bank Account: Haiti Earthquake Sanson Rejouis Family Fund. No. 02 0704 0074227 00.

View the Yahoo!7 News photos from the quake. WARNING: photos contain images that may not be suitable for children.

Kate
Community Manager

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Bono manages to use his celebrity to tackle serious issues

An interesting topic came up this week from the Canadian Answers team. They featured a celebrity question from Montreal based Associated Press reporter Amy Luft. She is asked the community What would it take to make people under 30 more interested in serious news issues than in celebrity gossip?

Many of the young people who have answered so far disagree with this statement. Adrymustdie says “I’m under 30 and detest celebrity gossip” and Jo confirms: “your stereotyping by saying people under 30. I am 18, and could care less about celebrity news!! I find it such a joke”

Perhaps it’s not just young people who are more interested in celebrity gossip? Having a look in the Celebrities subcategory (one out of the eleven Entertainment and Music subcategories), there are well over 700,000 resolved questions discussing things such as Who do you think is better Selena Gomez or Demi Lovato? and Do you think Kyle Sandilands should be sacked?

On the other hand, in the News & Events category, there are 400,000 resolved questions on everything from Will you stop buying clothes from Bonds & King Gee now they won’t be Australian made? and How will the Australian government stimulus package help?

Interestingly though, the most popular question in News & Events is from Bono, who asked What can we do to make povery history? 3 years ago. He got a phenomenal 26,000 answers to his question and, while he is a celebrity, his question also demonstrates that perhaps people do care about current events more than we think. It also confirms that combining the power of celebrity with serious news is definitely one way to get attention for the cause. On the flipside, the most answered celebrity question was What will you remember most about Michael Jackson? with 6,416 answers.

In fact, most of the News & Events questions have more answers, and those answers are well written and intelligent responses to some of the world’s biggest issues. It begs the question, do we actually care about more serious news issues but just don’t know what to do about them? Perhaps places like Answers is one of the few places where we get the opportunity to voice our opinions about important issues like World Poverty and is also a place where we can get advice about the more confusing aspects of serious news?

What do you think? Do you think we care more about celebrity gossip than serious news? And if so, how can we get more people to care about the big things in life?

Caitlin
Community Manager

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All of Australia has been horrified by the events going on in Victoria over the last few days. There are almost two hundred dead, hundreds of houses destroyed and thousands of acres of bushland burnt to a crisp.

The community on Answers have been actively discussing this tragedy, with questions ranging from how to prevent bushfires to how to help the victims and what should be done to the arsonists who lit these deadly blazes.

In fact, many of our own in the Answers community were caught up in the thick of it and have harrowing stories to tell. When Liz R asked for more information about how people get caught in these sorts of fires, Jarryd P had his own experience to relate:

My sister lost her whole house and my family lost 2 family friends in this fire.. I was stuck in Healsville from 6pm Saturday Night.. the C.F.A left Healsville on its own becuase the fire was just moving to fast and strong.
The house on Blackwoods road, the fire was heading in the opposite direction then within 5 mins it was heading for us there was no way anyone could get out no matter how well you prepared. More

Cassy M’s family was one of the lucky ones. Steven T asked what would you take in a bushfire and she answered from the experience of her family members:

My brother and sister-in-law and their baby up in Kinglake grabbed their photos got out of there as fast as they could. Told neighbour to do the same thing. Neighbour said the cool change will come and it would be ok. They drove though flames to get out of there so I would hate to think of what happened to the neighbour cause all the houses burned down, they said they haven’t heard from the neighbour. Doesn’t look good. More

For most of us who are lucky enough to have our loved ones and our homes, it’s about how much support we can give. One heartening thing is to see how many people out there have helped by giving money, donating blood and sending clothes, food and blankets.

The Answers Team asked for messages of support for the firefighters and messages of hope for the victims of the Victorian Bushfires and the response was overwhelming.

To the firefighters, Rebstar says:

My man has been fighting fires near Dederang in North East Victoria. I was extremely worried about him and many of our other friends. Thankfully they all returned home safely this morning.
All firefighters are truly heroes. Thank-you all for the big efforts you have put in and for giving up your time to help other out.

Keep safe out there and look after each other.

Whitetiger had a similarly emotional message for the victims:

I cried listening to the accounts of those who have lost loved ones. The pictures of devastation and grief are heartbreaking. Even though the fires have not effected my family or I, they have touched me profoundly – I am sure there is not an Australian in the country who is not feeling this right now – our thoughts are with you.

Pass on your support:

Donate to the Bush Fire Appeal Now!

What message would you like to send to the Australian firefighters working on the Victorian bushfires?

What messages of hope would you like to send to the victims of the Victorian bushfires?

Caitlin
Community Manager

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Wow what a weekend. It had it all – nail biting football, surprise celebrity weddings and sadly, the death of an icon.

The AFL final between Geelong and Hawthorn certainly had all the elements of a great match. Not only did the favourites get defeated (always exciting in a country that loves the underdog), but it was neck and neck for much of the match.

The Norm Smith Medal went to Luke Hodge, however one Answers user wondered whether anyone has ever won the Norm Smith Medal and the Brownlow in the same year? The answer is no, although some have come pretty close:

Greg Williams won the Brownlow in 94 and won the Norm Smith in 95 and same thing happened to Simon Black in 2002 – he won the Brownlow and won the Norm Smith the next year and so did Chris Judd in 04 and 05. More

For those of you who think enduring a football match is about as exciting as watching paint dry, you may have been interested to learn that Scarlett Johansson and fiancé Ryan Reynolds tied the knot over the weekend. At only 23, Scarlett Johansson is one of a few Hollywood stars who have chosen to marry young. As Ally asked, why do you think it is now trendy to marry young in celebville?

Finally, sad news for film fans with the death of screen legend Paul Newman. The star of classics such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Hustler died of cancer in his Westport, Connecticut home. He’s not only known for his films but also his relentless charity work, including donating all the proceeds of his Paul Newman Own foods to local charities. While some are debating their favourite Paul Newman films, others are speculating that celebrity deaths come in threes and are wondering which legend will be next through the pearly gates?

Caitlin
Community Manager

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“The official World Youth Day is Sunday 20th July where the pilgrims and anyone else interested gets to have mass with the pope. Apparently World Youth Day was originally held on Palm Sunday in 1986 and has been celebrated on a Diocesan level every Palm Sunday ever since.” More…

World Youth Day has actually stimulated quite a bit of debate for Australians. Some are worried about the amount of money that the NSW Government has spent on hosting the week. Answerer Mandy M gave a very succinct response, stating points such as promoting tourism and the potential that the young people could eventually return as international students, bring much needed dollars to a very lucrative industry.

A lot of people are also debating the new laws that were passed a few weeks ago empowering emergency service workers to stop people who are engaging in conduct that causes annoyance or inconvenience. Some parts of the law were overturned in an eleventh hour court case yesterday, the Federal Court ruling the definition of ‘annoyance’ to be too broad.

Of course, many of us Australians are still hoping there will be at least one ‘annoyance’ during the week, the Chaser boys may indeed plan some sort of prank to amuse us all. Nikita asked for some suggestions of what sort of mischief they could get up to. Some popular ideas include:

“They should make their own ‘Pope Mobile’ and drive it around…Maybe make it into a bit of a float… ‘the Pope Floater’….Gross.” Girl Goes Back to the Future

“I think they should volunteer.” HerbalPhil Wellness Warrior!

“The should perform some miracles, including 1. Water being turned into Wine. That’s always a winner with the youth of the world. 2. Resurrection. 3 days is probably a bit too long in our fast paced world. 3 hours would be pretty impressive.” Anthony C

A few too many mixed meanings in there for my liking but we’ll be interested to see if the Chaser boys decide on any of your suggestions this week. Let’s just hope our pilgrim friends see the funny side!

Caitlin
Community Manager

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