Good morning!

First, I want to take a quick opportunity to thank you for all of your work for the Haiti Choir Project. What a blessing it was to see all of you come together to help raise over $5000 for food, water, and shelter for the Haitian people. Be sure to check out Citizen Effect for updates on the project!

The second piece comes with the reality that we are not done. The Haitian people still need our support, especially as the rain seasons come. The tent cities will not be able to endure the harsh rains so shelter is an absolute necessity. That's why, for the month of March, we're coming alongside World Vision's Haiti relief efforts. And we're inviting you to join us. Here's how we're going to do it:

• For each week of March, set aside just $10. Think about your coffee budget, gas budget, and the little extras that you purchase each week.  Take a little bit out each week. Just $10. Then, on March 30th at 5PM EST, those who participate will all go to World Vision and donate the $40 we saved.

But there's also a personal, creative touch to it that I'm absolutely thrilled about:

• Throughout this month, we'd like for all of you who join to create something. It can be a poem, a sculpture, a sketch, a digital media piece, a video...I think you get the picture. Whatever you choose to make, do it as an expression of your personal response to the Haiti earthquake. Then submit the piece (if it's a sculpture or art piece, take a photograph for us) to Colin- our awesome online media guru- at colin@zyozy.org by March 28th. Send it with brief info on who you are, where you're from, and the story behind your contribution.

Colin will post the pictures and pieces to the Brighter Way website to create this beautiful digital media gallery. We're thrilled to move forward on this.  As always, if you have any questions, you can email me (Amy) at amy@zyozy.org. I love hearing from you!

It all starts March 1st! Will you join us?  You can let us know by posting this to your facebook, tweeting the hashtag #10dollarM, or blogging about your experience!

Amy x

MAKE A DONATION AND HELP PROVIDE MUCH NEEDED WATER, FOOD, AND SHELTER TO HAITI

Five choirs around the US and Uganda came together to sing of a "Brighter Way" for Haiti. Share the word with everyone you know.

Voena Children’s Choir: http://voena.org

Pacoima Singers

BRIGHTER WAY
Words, music, vocals Amy Carol Wolff, bass Evan Bogunia, guitar Jonathan Gornick.

V1
To those who see the widowed
The infected and abused
To those who hear them asking for deliverance
To those who are angered
By the failed attempts at progress
And are inspired to give the forgotten their voice

C
Show them theres a brighter way
A rushing river gaining ground
Bringing life and hope abound
A brighter love,
One that reaches deep enough
To see their pain and lift them up in grace
This is purpose
For this we sing.

V2
We must join together
Hear the cries of the hopeful
Who know there is power in our passion
Committing to this calling
To be one in our mission, empowering with life

C
Show them theres a brighter way
A rushing river gaining ground
Bringing life and hope abound
A brighter love,
One that reaches deep enough
To see their pain and lift them up in grace
This is purpose
For this we sing.

V3
This is our noble battle,
Our adventure finding beauty,
In the eyes of a child, in the callused hands of poverty
We will not settle for signed paper contracts
We will move, inspiring others to believe
Show them theres a brighter way
A brighter love, oh

C
Show them theres a brighter way
A rushing river gaining ground
Bringing life and hope abound
A brighter love,
One that reaches deep enough
To see their pain and lift them up in grace
This is purpose
For this we sing.
For this we sing.
For those who see

©zyOzy Foundation, 2009

Dawn Williams, who survived the Haiti earthquake, and is the inspiration for the Brighter Way 'Haiti Choir Project' says thank you and calls on all us to remember Haiti.

http://twitter.com/nolandHoshino

Tomorrow. Can you feel it? It’s happening tomorrow at 6PM EST. We’re releasing the Brighter Way Haiti Choir Project. A friend of mine described it as “We are the World”, but for the regular person- the every day music lover who wants the chance to be a part of something bigger. I think he nailed it on the head. My heart behind this project was, on behalf of my friend Dawn, to create a place for people to sing for Haiti- to use their gifts to bring hope and support. For the full story, check out the video here.

A few people asked how they can help, so last night, the ‘Power Tribe’ and I came up with a few ways.

1. Send this press release to local media sources or any major connections you may have! Haiti Choir Project press release [pdf]

2. Use social media to spread the message. You’ll have the freedom to post the video anywhere. Blogs, your personal websites, facebook.  The twitter hashtag for the project is #HaitiCP.

3. Old-fashioned email/phone calls! Take some time to share this with your friends and family! The more people who see it, the better chance we have to provide for the people of Haiti. It’s that simple. Here’s a draft email that you can use!

Dear friends,

Happy Valentine’s day! I’m writing to share with you a pretty beautiful response to the recent Haiti earthquake. Five choirs from across the world came together and sang “Brighter Way”, a song of hope and encouragement, in order to spread the word about the need in Haiti. The Brighter Way Haiti Choir Project is working with Citizen Effect- an online donation tool- that has partnered with CARE in their relief efforts.

I’d encourage you take 4 minutes and watch the video, donate if you can, and then pass it along to those you love and know. The more people who see this, the more we can come along side Haiti and serve them.

Thank you for joining with me in this.

All my love,

(Insert name here)

—–

Three simple ways to spread the word! Thank you! Get pumped!!

Love,

Amy x

The complete Haiti Choir Project video, premieres on Valentine's day!

Some supporters asked for the full story, so here it is!

Amy

Original Guest by Noland Hoshino http://www.whatgives.com/2010/02/10/a-brighter-way-to-help-haiti/

A month has passed since the devastating earthquake shook Haiti, its people, and the world.  230,000 people have lost their lives, more will die, and millions are without proper food and water.  The recovery has barely begun, yet when you turn on television news or look in a newspaper you’ll find little about the Herculean relief efforts.  “New” media isn’t much better.  #Haiti is no longer a top trending topic on Twitter.  Internet browser main pages feature stories about the best and worst 2010 Super Bowl Commercials and Google Buzz.  Have we really already forgotten about the struggling Haitian people?  Not everyone.

This past weekend at a Social Entrepreneur conference, I met an amazing woman, Amy Carol Wolff.  Amy, an Indiana University graduate student specializing in non-profit management, was personally affected by the Haiti earthquake when a close friend’s family was lost in the rubble after the initial earthquake.

Amy described her conversation: “I listened to a dear friend describe the horror of thinking his wife and two children had been lost in the earthquake.”  I was the poorest man in the world, he said.  “But that morning, by some miracle, his wife and two little girls walked up to him – rattled, injured, but alive.”   And now, I am the richest man in the world, he said.

Amy was moved by the incident and couldn’t help but think about those who weren’t so lucky.  Being a singer and songwriter, she sprang into action and recorded a song she had once written, “Brighter Way.”  Amy has a beautiful voice and could have easily have made “Brighter Way” her song.  Instead, she chose to donate the song and collaborate with choirs across the globe by creating The Haiti Choir Project.

“I’m dedicating this project to honor this family, specifically, the eldest daughter, who loves and is inspired by the beauty of music,” she said.  “Imagine choirs from all over the world coming together to sing for Haiti – singing on behalf of those who cannot be heard.  This will be a powerful, transformational movement.”

This Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2010, the choir mashup of “Brighter Way” by the Haiti Choir Project will be released across the internet on social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube, to raise money for the “Brighter Way” Haiti Choir Project – Haiti Relief Fund (participants of Citizen Effect and Care’s Earthquake Relief Fund).

Here’s how you can participate and donate:

1. Watch the “Brighter Way” Haiti Choir Project video on February 14th.
2. Share it with someone you love (hashtag #Brighterway #HaitiChoirProject)
3. Donate to “Brighter Way” Haiti Choir Project – Haiti Relief Fund.  Instead of buying chocolate or flowers this Valentine’s day, give hope to Haiti.

We must not forget Haiti and her beautiful people.  We must not forget those who died, those who survived, and those who are left behind — “Show them there’s a brighter way.”

Thank you, Amy Carol Wolff for sharing your gift to the world and giving Haiti hope. We love you.

Follow the progress of Brighter Way on posterous, and on Twitter and Facebook.

Show them there’s a brighter way
A rushing river gaining ground
Bringing life and hope abound
A brighter love
One that reaches deep enough
To see their pain and lift them up in grace
This is purpose
For this we sing
For this we sing
For those who see

The Crescendo Chorus of Connecticut, singing Brighter Way, for the Haiti Choir Project. v2

The Crescendo Chorus of Connecticut, singing Brighter Way, for the Haiti Choir Project.

The Voena Choir rehearsing Brighter Way for the Haiti Choir Project.