Customized T-shirts, with your Twitter handle on the back, can be pre-ordered with payment in advance.

We intend to sell generic T-shirts during the fundraiser event. Pre-ordered T-shirts will be available for pickup at the event on January 28.

A limited number of non-custom t-shirts with just the #yyc will be available at Flames Central the night of the event.

Prices for T-shirts are as follows:

* #yyc logo (front) – $20
* #yyc logo (front) and username (back) – $25 Requires pre-order.

Available sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL. Both guys & girls.

Proceeds of the sales will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross Haiti Relief.

(Click on the image for bigger file)

We all have stood in awe, and sometimes sorrow, of stories, pictures and video clips, scrolling across our computer monitors as another disaster of natural or human cause devastated hundreds or thousands.

We all have, at one point, felt helpless, wishing we could do more.

Last week, as we heard, read, watched or announced news of the 7.0 earthquake near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, we felt that helplessness all over again.

This time, however, we’ve chosen to fight against that feeling.

Spurred by a single late-night Tweet from Camilla Di Giuseppe, Alex Ruiz and I jumped at Camilla’s lead and thought, ‘yes, let’s not feel helpless this time, let’s do something.’

And thus was born YYC4Haiti.

More individuals have come forward, encouraged to do something – even one small task – to assist the estimated million who have been rendered homeless by the tragic January 12 event.

Thirteen Canadians have been confirmed dead, as of today, and 665 remain missing.

The death toll in Haiti is expected to reach 200,000.

We, in Calgary, may never know such a disastrous natural event.

We give thanks for such a blessing by turning out our hearts in goodwill for those stranded and injured, their lives and families torn apart.

Donations of items for door prizes and silent and live auctions have been steady and quick.

The Calgary Flames, Calgary Stampeders, Calgary Roughnecks and Calgary Hitmen all are donating precious memorabilia to the cause.

Gyms are donating memberships, photographers are offering their framed prints, decorators and wedding planners are giving away experience packages.

We have iPods, cellphones, hockey tickets, resort passes, gas vouchers … you name it, we might have it in our growing prize pile.

Now all we need is you.

You … to come out and watch the Calgary Flames take on the Phoenix Coyotes at Flames Central on Thursday, January 28.

You … to give from your heart by donating at the door, buying raffle tickets and bidding on items.

You … the business community to rise to the challenge and match what we raise.

And you … to show the people of Haiti that the world cares about their plight and wants to do something to help.

Please come join us.

We’ll be there.

@that_angela

What: YYC4Haiti, a Calgary fundraiser for the Canadian Red Cross Haiti Relief
When: Thursday, January 28, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Flames Central
Who: YYC4Haiti, a team assembled via Twitter. Contact information below.

January 17, 2010

CALGARY—Three Calgary women have spearheaded a team to mobilize the city’s social-media and business communities to raise funds for the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Camilla Di Giuseppe of CTV Calgary, Alex Ruiz of Calix Media and the Calgary Flames and former Calgary sports writer Angela MacIsaac have joined forces to lead a team organizing a fundraiser, YYC4Haiti, at Flames Central on Thursday, January 28, starting at 5:30 p.m.

The event will take place during the Calgary Flames-Phoenix Coyotes Pay Per View game. The Flames, along with the Calgary Stampeders, Calgary Roughnecks and Calgary Hitmen, have become major donors to the event, offering autographed jerseys, tickets and other items to a silent auction and door prizes.

“It is extremely difficult to watch the images and read the details that continue to emerge about the widespread devastation and suffering in Haiti,” said Di Giuseppe. “To put it simply, we want to help. The concept of YYC4Haiti took its first breath over the social-media platform Twitter, which is our primary tool in engaging and mobilizing the Calgary community.

“Now we are looking at the biggest charity ‘Tweetup’ Calgary has ever seen and we only have two weeks to do it!”

Followers of the #yyc hashtag, the search funnel for all things Calgary-related and named  for the city’s airport code, have not hesitated to get involved, many offering items for auction and door prizes or noting their intent to attend and donate to the cause.

“In just the span of one day on Twitter, we had Calgarians come forward to volunteer, to make donations and to say they’ll attend,” Ruiz said. “We’ve even had people from across Canada and the U.S., who have noticed the YYC4Haiti effort, offer to mail us donations for the silent auction!”

“YYC4Haiti is bringing everyone together. The tragic images and devastation in Haiti affect everyone, so we want to do everything possible to help. We know Calgary can come together and make a huge difference and we’re challenging the business community in our city to match the donations we raise.”

All proceeds for the event will be forwarded to the Canadian Red Cross, which is leading Canadian efforts to provide urgently needed support to survivors in Haiti and to address the longer-term needs of affected communities.

“Our hearts go out to those survivors in Haiti,” said MacIsaac. “It isn’t just about buildings and infrastructure. Lives and entire families have been destroyed. There is still a large number of Canadians missing as well and we can’t help but want to do all we can.”

For more information or to offer donations of cash or silent-auction and door-prize items, please contact:

Alex Ruiz: (403)519-4308; alex@calixmedia.com; Twitter: @alex_ruiz
Camilla Di Giuseppe: (403)589-8506; camilla.digiuseppe@ctv.ca; Twitter: @C_DIG
Angela MacIsaac: (403)466-3574;  angela.macisaac@gmail.com; Twitter: @that_angela