The National - Dark Was The Night Emergency Haiti Grant Sent
17 January 10
The Red Hot Organization have announced the issuing of an emergency grant of $150,000 (US) to Partners in Health, a not-for-profit organisation that has been on the ground in Haiti for more than twenty years. The grant will be used by P.I.H. in their efforts to provide immediate assistance to the people of Haiti in the aftermath of last week’s earthquake.
In making this emergency grant, Red Hot drew from the proceeds of its most recent project, a musical collaboration released on 4AD called Dark Was The Night, which was conceived and produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, and Red Hot founder John Carlin. More details on the release here.
In addition to the grant, all proceeds over the next 60 days from the sale of the Dark Was The Night compilation will be awarded to Partners in Health.
The original charitable concept of Dark Was The Night was to raise awareness about the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, and to raise money to help fight the epidemic in the world’s hardest-hit nations. Because of the economic crisis in the West, that concept expanded to include organisations in the US, Canada, and Europe at risk of collapsing due to the downturn in donations and support. In order to recognise the generous contributions of the artists involved with Dark Was The Night, Red Hot asked them to recommend charitable organisations whose work they admire. Arcade Fire recommended Partners in Health.
The Red Hot Organization was founded 20 years ago to deal with the crisis surrounding the devastation of the AIDS epidemic on the creative community in downtown New York. Dark Was The Night, released last year, is the 20th Red Hot album. Red Hot founder and President John Carlin said, “Although disaster relief falls outside the usual scope of our charitable work, I felt that we were fortunate to have the mechanism and resources to offer immediate assistance to the people of Haiti.”
Martin Mills, the Chairman of The Beggars Group of Labels said “It's great that part of the very substantial monies that have been raised by the release of this wonderful record are available to be applied to the relief effort after this terrible disaster, and that proceeds from further purchases of this album for the next 60 days will also go to Partners In Health”
Aaron Dessner agreed, adding, "We were deeply saddened to read of the horrific devastation brought about by the recent earthquake in Haiti. We are thankfully in a position to accelerate an emergency donation from Dark Was The Night proceeds to Partners In Health, a leading Haitian health-care organization that Arcade Fire has supported for years. We hope that you will all considering donating what you can via the Partners In Health website, to help their efforts to save lives and alleviate suffering. It's a race against time and PIH needs all the help they can get."
TO PURCHASE DARK WAS THE NIGHT CLICK HERE.
Partners In Health: www.pih.org
PIH dedicated Haiti site: www.standwithhaiti.org
Red Hot Organisation: www.redhot.org