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A SWAN FOR HAITI
It
has always been my belief that with success comes the opportunity and
obligation to help those who are in desperate need. In the past, we
have raffled off our guitars to raise money for the Tsunami relief
efforts, to help the rebuild the Gulf Coast after the devastation
caused by Hurricane
Katrina, and to assist during the world food crisis. Through
these efforts
we were able to donate almost $20,000.
Seeing the heartbreaking news following the devastating earthquake in
Haiti, I decided that it was time for us to help once again.
We raffled off one of our guitars with 100% of the proceeds going to Mercy Corps specifically for Haitian relief. Mercy Corps has a long history as one of the most effective and efficient relief organizations. They have a very low overhead with almost 90% of the money they receive going directly to their aid efforts. For more information on Mercy Corps, go to their website at http://mercycorps.org.
On
February 17, thanks to the generous support of the international
community of guitar players, we were able to make a donation of
$7,121.36. Minda Seibert of Mercy Corps then picked the
winning entry, (Les Thomas of Los Gatos, California).
I
would like to encourage anyone who's looking for an effective way to help to make
donations directly to Mercy Corps. The help is still needed and no one does a better job at providing it.
I would also like to offer a special thanks to DiMarzio for donating
the pickups and to HipShot for contributing the bridge and rear string
guide.
Here's
a look at the prize guitar as well as the process of making the donation and picking the winner.
