I'm sure that by now you have heard about the tragedy that has occurred in Haiti. Haiti, the poor Carribean nation, is used to minor earthquakes which are common in the area. But none of the 9 million people inhabiting the country were ready for the first major earthquake to strike the country in over 16 years, the strongest to ever rock the country. The size and proximity of the the earthquake to the highly populated city of Port Au Prince has caused widespread causalities and severe structural damage. It's estimated that over 50% of buildings have been destroyed in the town.

For me, this disaster strikes close to home. One of my family members has three adopted children Haiti. The first few days after the news broke were exceptionally hard for them. They had no idea if their friends and family from home were alive. And although we now know that their father has survived, there are still many friends and family that have not been able to reached. It is really is heart wrenching to see these children so unsure and so afraid.

There are many ways to help the people of Haiti in their plight. You can text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross which is added directly onto your phone bill. Several of my friends have the Facebook status states "UPS is shipping anything under 50lbs for free to Haiti. You can send food, clothes or shoes...and American Airlines is taking doctors and nurses to Haiti for free. Please call 212-697-9767. Spread the word...Red Cross needs Creole speaking volunteers for a 24hr phone bank. Call Mr. Wilfrid @ 305-776-6900 ASAP...Please Repost this Information." But what if you don't have money to send, but want to help? What if you can't take time off work to travel, but want to help? Do you want to do more than repost a Facebook status? Well, Bungie is here to help you help Haiti.

Bungie has promised to make a donation of $100 dollars for every 1000 players who play either Halo 3 or ODST while wearing a special emblem, for a maximum of $77,000. That's right, you can help the people of Haiti by playing video games tomorrow and Thursday.

Here are the specifics as posted on Bungie's To Be a Hero webpage:(http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BeAHero)

1. Round up all of your friends and hop online with Halo 3 or ODST any time next from 00:01AM PST Wednesday, 1/20, through 23:59PM PST Thursday 1/21.
2. Edit your appearance settings so your character is wearing the RED HEART emblem.
3. a. Press START
   b. Select "SETTINGS" / "APPEARANCE"
   c. Select "EMBLEM"
   d. Select "Hearts" ICON, "Circle" BACKGROUND
   e. Back out to the APPEARANCES menu and select "COLORS"
   f. Set "EMBLEM PRIMARY" to RED (or MAROON / BRICK / ROSE depending on which game you're playing!)
   g. Set "EMBLEM SECONDARY" to WHITE
4. Once your emblem is set, play! This can be a custom game or a matchmaking game, just make sure it's played online, on Xbox LIVE, or we can't track it.

If you keep playing more games through midnight on Thursday, KEEP THE HEART EMBLEM ENABLED or you may not get counted.

Bungie is also selling special edition tee shirts at the Bunjie store, where 100% of the profits from the shirts are going to the Red Cross.
I will be playing playing Halo 3 tomorrow, and I recommend that you do the same. Please, join me and help Haiti. Help my adoptive family find their family. If you would like to play with me, feel free to find me on XBL and play. My gamer tag is Ladie Au Pair. I hope to see you online.