• Independent Media for Truckee • North Lake Tahoe
• Saturday, February 11, 2012

News, Community, Environment, Arts, Culture, Entertainment, Events, Wellness, Jobs … Life

Weighing the options: Betony Jones chose Haiti. Photo by Brent Rubey

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Inspired Sacrifice

Editor's Box

Like thousands upon thousands of other downhill fans, Betony Jones bought a Squaw Valley pass this ski season at a rock-bottom price. She told me in late January, with that dreamy twinkle that skiers get, that her pass was already well used.

But during the huge storms of mid-January, she realized that her somewhat skinny skis drowned in the cloud-like powder. Betony, armed with a cache of saved money, embarked upon a Tahoe ritual and started looking for fat powder skis.

Then Haiti’s devastating earthquake hit. Profoundly affected by the horrendous situation, Betony decided to forego personal pleasure and donate the entire cache, a total of $1,500, to the shocked country. “It wasn’t easy,” she said, “but it is worth it.”

She carefully selected Partners in Health, a nonprofit organization that has been working in Haiti for 20 years and has the highest ranking through Charity Navigator of all organizations working in Haiti.

Betony even took the effort further and set a goal to raise an additional $3,500 through her friends, family, and colleagues. In less than two weeks, she reached that goal. In her email appealing for donations, she explains her reasoning:

“I know this is a tough time for some of you, but I have been reminded recently that if you give what you can, you will receive what you need,” she wrote. “Giving sometimes takes a leap of faith, but I think that in taking that leap, our eyes open to the bounty that surrounds us. And if for a fleeting moment we feel grateful, then it was probably worth it.”

I am inspired by Betony’s selfless action. At a time when many of us feel like we could use a fundraiser of our own, she took it upon herself to make the biggest difference she could for a country where more than 200,000 are reported dead and almost half a million people have been displaced.

I’ve heard of other selfless acts of kindness in the name of Haiti: A grassroots effort, called One Thousand Tents for Haiti (find it on Facebook), is soliciting used and new tents to provide short- and medium-term shelter for Haitians as they rebuild their country. One local woman postponed buying a new pair of jeans and used the money as a donation. For Betony’s recent birthday, guess what she asked for? Yup, you guessed it: more donations to Partners in Health. It doesn’t matter if it’s $1,500 or $15, every little bit helps.

Of course, to change Haiti’s future will take more than donations, it will take continued attention. And there will be other earthquakes, other devastations, in other places. In fact, there are people suffering every day from hunger, from war, from global neglect.

“I’ve been reminded to try to stay engaged,” Betony wrote in a thank you note to those who helped her reach the fundraising goal, “that the recovery and rebuilding in Haiti needs to go on for the next decade or so, and that we should think about people that need help even before a disaster strikes.”

Let me know what you’ve done to help Haiti or other places. Moonshine Ink is considering launching a program where our Tahoe community brainstorms the best ways we can help other communities in need.

Just before press time, Betony sent an update: “I ended up getting my skis after all. [My boyfriend] bought them for me for my birthday. It’s funny, but true what they say — the more you give, the more you receive. My old employer found an uncashed paycheck, I sold my car, money just seems to be flying at me. I'm in the flow, man."