wfn.org | "Tithe Wall Street bonuses for Haiti" is web campaign from CWS

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> Church World Service
> 475 Riverside Drive
> New York, NY 10115
> (212) 870-2676

"Tithe Wall Street bonuses for Haiti" is rising call and web campaign
from CWS

NEW YORK, NY -- January 27, 2010 -- As a rising wave calling for
complete debt relief for Haiti is breaking even on the floors of Davos
this week, the head of global humanitarian agency Church World Service
this morning called for Wall Street's financial industry leaders to
tithe their bonuses for the reconstruction of Haiti following the
earthquake disaster that killed more than 100,000 people and destroyed
much of Port au Prince and the country's fragilely functioning
infrastructure.

"As a relief and development agency that has worked in Haiti beginning
in 1954, Church World Service has seen the dire challenges, strife and
unremitting, abject poverty that the people of Haiti have experienced
for generation after generation," said agency executive director and CEO
the Rev. John L. McCullough.

"Although prior to the earthquake the Haitian government had been
making positive steps in terms of forwarding a viable economic
direction, the burdens of hunger and poverty had not lessened while the
rest of the world's interest in Haiti had," he said.

"This month's catastrophic earthquake is not only an unforgettable
tragedy but a wake-up call to rich nations of the world," said
McCullough, whose aid workers and their longtime local Haitian partner
agencies are now assisting survivors on the island along with other
international humanitarian groups.

"We have no choice now but to come together, collaboratively, once and
for all, to assist the people of Haiti," he said, "not simply to recover
from what was the worst natural disaster in this hemisphere, but to
assist them as they build, for the first time in their history, a
country and a life that reflects and respects their indomitable
spirit."

CWS is also urging complete forgiveness of Haiti's remaining debts.

"Last Friday's Hope for Haiti Now Telethon made a powerful statement
about our common humanity," said McCullough. "Now is the perfect moment
for executives in the financial sector to make an equally powerful
statement about corporate social responsibility, by tithing their
bonuses towards the longer and arduous challenge of redeveloping Haiti."

McCullough noted the irony in the fact that, "Despite a continuing
tough economy, persistently high jobless rate and the alarming increase
of homeless families in the U.S., the American people managed to
contribute to the $61 million raised in the one-night benefit for the
Haitian people."

At the same time, said McCullough, "More Wall Street bankers and
traders this year are expecting to receive massive bonuses than last
year, despite public outrage over the industryâ??s seeming impunity to
its own role in the economic meltdown."

"We're inviting all Americans to join the call and invite Wall Street
to offer ten percent of those bonuses to Haiti. Consider it a
sacrificial offering. Consider it seed money to jumpstart the
reconstruction and development that we hope world leaders will now fully
commit to while in Davos this week."

People are already joining the "Bonus4Haiti" tithing call to Wall
Street now, signing on to CWS's Facebook Cause page, tweeting the
campaign to others, and raising the shoutout volume virally through the
Internet, with the message, "Tell corporate CEOs that to whom much is
given, much is expected. Please tithe your bonuses to Haiti!"

Meanwhile, former U.S. President and United Nations special
representative for Haiti Bill Clinton has announced intentions for a
major initiative to engage businesses in the reconstruction of Haiti for
an extended period of time.

How to help Haiti: For more information or to join the "Bonuses4Haiti"
cause, visit the CWS Causes page on Facebook.

Those wishing to contribute to the Church World Service disaster
response for Haiti can do so online at www.churchworldservice.org/haiti;

> by phoning (800) 297-1516;

or by mailing to Church World Service, P.O.

Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515 (please indicate Haiti Earthquake).

Recognized as one of America's Most Efficient Charities, Church World
Service has earned an "A" rating from the American Institute of
Philanthropy and was named one of the Top 100 Highly Rated Charities by
GiveSpot.com.

Media Contacts

Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net