Supporter: Caitlin Carlson

If you're a soccer fan in Portland and want to help Haiti rebuild at the same time, this post is for you! Tonight, the Portland Timbers face off against the University of Portland men's soccer team on the University's Merlo Field at 7 p.m. In this charity match, the Timbers will field a team of guest players and trialists against returning members of the University of Portland squad that reached the third round of the 2009 NCAA tournament.

Tickets are only $7 and all proceeds raised at the event will support Mercy Corps' programs in Haiti, which are helping create jobs, restart the economy, help children cope with trauma and much more. There will be a silent auction of signed Timbers jerseys other sports memorabilia during the match. Proceeds from the auction items will also benefit Mercy Corps.

Hope to see you there for some great soccer for a great cause!

From the Timbers: http://www.mercycorps.org/fundraising/timbersarmy and
http://www.portlandtimbers.com/newsroom/headlines/index.html?article_id=1528

From the Pilots: http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2010/2/8/MSOC_0208100837.aspx

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First of all, I want to thank everyone who has donated to support Mercy Corps' response to the Haiti earthquake. Mercy Corps' staff on the ground are working as fast as possible to get aid to those in need.

I wanted to let everyone still wanting to donate to help the people of Haiti know about a local Portland publication, Metro Parent has generously offered to match contributions made through their personal fundraising page up to $1000 (they have already provided their first $500 of the match on the page so keep giving after the page reaches $1000!).

If you would like to double the impact of your donation, please visit their page today.

Thank you Metro Parent and thank you to everyone who has donated to Haiti relief!

http://www.mercycorps.org/fundraising/metroparent0

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Perez Hilton makes me laugh. But I never put "Perez" and "Mercy Corps" together in the same sentence and never thought I would until today. You have to see this for yourself by visiting the link below to his site — thanks Perez!

http://perezhilton.com/2009-11-26-a-worthwhile-cause-473

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

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Mercy Corps' Global Citizen Corps intern Danielle Knott is profiled on KPTV's High School Sportlight for her work with the program and for working to fight global hunger and poverty. Watch her segment here: http://www.kptv.com/video/20531004/index.html.

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Today I had the pleasure of meeting representatives from Qatar Charity, who traveled from Doha, Qatar to Mercy Corps' global headquarters in Portland, Oregon in order to sign a memorandum of understanding for a generous gift of $10 million.

Mr. Abdulla Al-Nameh, Managing Director of Qatar Charity, constantly smiling, spoke of his excitement to begin this new partnership with Mercy Corps.

Mercy Corps is equally excited to put the donation to work on the ground in the Gaza Strip helping families rebuild their lost livelihoods. The conflict that was renewed last December between Israel and Hamas has caused the already desperate economic situation in Gaza to further deteriorate. The Gaza Strip now has the world's highest unemployment rate.

With the need so great, Qatar Charity's sizeable donation to support Mercy Corps' ongoing economic recovery work in Gaza will indeed make a difference. We'll provide assistance to fishermen and small farmers and hold trainings on entrepreneurial skills to encourage small business growth. We'll also expand our cash-for-work programs to employ Gazans to remove rubble and rehabilitate damaged buildings.

The cash-for-work approach is one Mercy Corps utilized in Indonesia following the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. We've found that offering jobs to help in recovery provides people with hope while also contributing to improving the economy. You can read what the New York Times says about our cash-for-work program here.

The donation will also be used to expand the Global Citizen Corps program in Gaza that works to equip young people with the skills to be leaders in their communities. You can see an interview with some of the participants speaking to Al Jazeera English in this video:

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