Big Hearts, Big Bucks-Etsy Artists Unite to Aid in Haitian Relief Efforts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 17, 2010 -- Artists are known for having small bank accounts these days yet their hearts are anything but. After the disaster in Haiti, one artist, Victoria van der Laan of Albany, NY, the artist behind Ex Libris Handmade (www.exlibrishandmade.etsy.com) posted a simple request on the forums at Etsy,

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Big Hearts, Big Bucks-Etsy Artists Unite to Aid in Haitian Relief Efforts

Welcome visit Our WebSite:

http://www.heartsforhaiti.etsy.com

“I would love to see and potentially help to organize an Etsy shop established to fundraise for relief efforts in Haiti. Though I wasn't involved with this I understand a similar shop was started to help during the Australian bushfires last year. Does anyone know how this was done or have any suggestions on how it may work?”

Within minutes, dozens of fellow artists replied, offering their time, knowledge, and wares. This was January 13th. Heartsforhaiti.etsy.com was open for business by midnight on January 15th . With more than 200 artists contributing, they have raised over $1000 in less than 24 hours and contributors from all over the world are working around the clock to create items and get them listed in the online store.

Most of us do not even know each others names; we simply refer to each other by our shop names. To follow this story from its inception read the forum posts at http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6404152&page=1. The forum thread is a true illustration of the hearts and minds of the artists who have come together to aid the recovery effort in Haiti.

"The hearts of many in the Etsy community go out to the victims of the earthquake. Hopefully each of us, in our small and humble way, can help to alleviate some suffering." -Jesse (Etsy Admin. Announcement)

100% of the proceeds from items sold (excluding PayPal and Esty fees) will be donated to Doctors without Borders. Artists are paying the shipping costs themselves so buyers will not have to pay shipping. Plans are to keep the shop open for at least one month or until donations and volunteers are no longer available.

Other Information

To Donate

Please send the following information in an email to etsyforhaiti@gmail.com
and put "Hearts For Haiti Donation" as the title:

Your shop name
Your location and country
Item Name/Title
Item Price (please do include this! we don’t want to undervalue your work :)
Item Description
10 tags
Materials used
Up to 5 clear photos of the item

*Please be sure to attach (or upload) all of the photos to the email. Make sure you are sending the sized-for-Etsy versions of your photos. If there is a problem with the photos being transmitted, we will let you know.

*Quantity: if you have a quantity greater than one of this item to donate, please note it here and remind us to RE-LIST it when it sells

IMPORTANT NOTES:

♥ Shipping: All sellers must ship items at their own cost. We would like to encourage everyone who can to offer worldwide shipping but understand that some items need to stay domestic due to customs restrictions. If you would like to restrict your shipping parameters please be sure to note that explicitly in your listing!

♥ We will be featuring items with a heart theme in the shop. We hope lots of sellers will consider donating a heart item for the cause! (Though any Etsy-approved item is fine)

♥ When your item sells one of the shop administrators will contact you with shipping information. Please ship items within 3 days of purchase. If you ship on a different timeline please indicate that in the listing and ship accordingly.

More information can be found online at http://www.heartsforhaiti.etsy.com

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