USVI-On-Line

Did anyone donate tonight and get to talk to a celeb?
I talked to John Krasinski (from The Office).

This was just one of the many ways our family has donated money. The show was put together quickly and seemed quite organized.

Who did you talk to?

Terry, I've donated other ways, so I didn't call in tonight, but it was an awesome tribute and telethon, wasn't it!

CAGirl,
Yes it was very well done.

Don't you just want to adopt as many of those kids as you can? They are amazingly beautiful and brave.

We donated last week---to Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders--so I wasn't planning to contribute anything tonight. I figured that only a very miniscule percentage of callers actually connected with a celeb. Now I wish I'd made a small donation just to take a shot at it. Imagine hearing "Hi, this is Stevie Wonder."

We probably will donate again in the near future and I'll buy the music from itunes. And there was some very nice music. I've never paid any attention to Justin Timberlake, but he did a really lovely job with Hallelujah. And I've always enjoyed Wyclef. There were quite a few performances that I'd like to hear again. The Muhammad Ali & Chris Rock moment was very powerful. 100% of the proceeds from the itunes sales go to Haitian relief.

I have a couple of Haitian colleagues and numerous Haitians work in other departments where I work. Their hearts are heavy these days, deeply burdened either by what they know or what they haven't been able to learn. Even those who received some good news are overwhelmed by terrible sadness. For every good story there are thousands of sad ones and the good ones can quickly take bad turns.

My life is so comfortable. I have so much and usually take so much for granted. Now I'm kind of taking it for granted that I should be doing something to help.

does anyone know where I find the songs from last night in iTunes? can't find them.

edit: it looks like the songs are not avail. until the 25th. I thought they were avail now.

If you've never dialed into a telethon here is how it normally works.

You speed redial 25-50 times. Last night I got through on the 9th try, which sort of surprised me. Your call is answered from a call center and they take your donation information and give you a confirmation number. After that is all taken care of the operator asks you if you wish to talk to a celeb. You are put on hold and pretty soon a celeb picks up the phone and says "hello, this is _________, who am I speaking with?" The conversation goes on from there.

John Krasinski told me that when George Clooney calls, they all come running!

As long as it brings in the money, who cares what the angle is. But in this case, it was some very good and strong music.

If George Clooney called me, I'd come running too!

Ditto, CAGirl!

I've never called in to a telethon, so this is interesting. So after you get through and make the donation, how long might you be on hold waiting for a celeb? It's kind of strange when I think of how it works, but it works.

As mbw reports, the "album" won't be released on itunes until 1/25 and it looks like maybe they're still deciding who to include. It can be pre-ordered, but there doesn't seem to be any advantage in that.

As I mentioned, I loved Justin Timberlake's "Hallelujah". (I find it very weird that I wrote that I loved something by Justin Timberlake, but it was truly lovely). I also really liked Wyclef's numbers. Other favorites for me were Stevie Wonder, the Bono/Jay Z/Rhianna tune, Dave Matthews & Neil Young, Bruce and John Legend. And it was an interesting to hear live performances without an audience. I found myself waiting to hear applause. Instead there was silence. It seemed kind of eerie sometimes.

agreee they haven't decided what they are releasing yet so I will wait until the 25th and not do the pre order.

Lex,
I may of been lucky on last nights telethon as I only waited 1 minute for a celeb to connect. I called the main line when it first started.

Just a FYI it is available now on itunes. I had pre-ordered it and they just sent me an e-mail to download it. They have all of the songs that I remember hearing and it sounds great.

OMG, if I got Jim from the Office, I would have donated a million dollars!

djmom,
If you have a million dollars to donate, by all means please do so. Plus, according to the new bill that Obama signed, you will receive a tax deduction for your Haiti donation on your 2009 taxes.

I just downloaded it. 20 songs for $7.99, all proceeds going to Haitian relief. Seems a whole lot of people around the world have been moved to try to do something to ease some of the pain and suffering.