Not only did 11-11-11 mark an auspicious day on our calendar, it also celebrated a time-honored fall wardrobe staple, corduroy! You may ask, why 11-11, but if you take closer note you will notice the vertical numbers are nearly identical to the beloved corduroy pattern. For me, a true corduroy fan, there’s nothing like crisp fall weather and reaching into my drawer to pull out my softest corduroy pants. For those that have similar feeling and love for all things corduroy, you may consider joining the over 5,000 fans of the Corduroy Appreciation Club.

The Corduroy Appreciation Club, with chapters in cities across the world, brings together people who not only love corduroy but have an interest in meeting others who share a similar love for the fabric. They gather twice a year, eat linear themed foods such as ruffled potato chips, and cite oaths to wear corduroy as much as possible. Beware, if you attend the bi-annual meetings wearing less than three items of corduroy you will sadly be dismissed. If corduroy is your thing, take careful notice of those on the street since they might pass an invite to join this elite club. I’m hoping that one day I will be bestowed this special honor.

So while some may have spent the day celebrating 11-11-11 with “press-worthy” stunts I hope that you enjoyed your day with a nice plush corduroy pant or blazer. Until next year fine corduroy fans…

-Dominic

Last week, a 7.0 earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, leaving a drastic wave of destruction throughout the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation. Casualty estimates have been difficult to determine, but some are saying up to 100,000 people can be presumed dead, and just as many injured. Watching the aftermath and taking in the devastation in Haiti, many are wondering how they can efficiently and effectively help those in need. Ian Rodgers, a senior emergency adviser for Save the Children, said "It is very possible, that the situation can go from dire to absolutely catastrophic if we don't get enough food, medicine and work with children and their families to help them." The following are a series of excellent options in which to donate to help the earthquake victims of Haiti.

Texting options:

Texting is quick and simple and allows you to immediately donate money to earthquake relief.

·      Text Haiti to 90999 to make a $10 donation or text Yele to 501501 to make a $5 donation. Yele Haiti is a foundation established by Wyclef Jean, a native of Haiti, that helps people in Haiti on a continual basis. However, he established the texting campaign on Tuesday evening to help with the earthquake relief, and it has since gone viral making it the largest disaster relief texting campaign in history.

Larger Monetary Donations:

There are numerous funds that have started or organizations that are reaching out to help Haiti with disaster relief. The following are some great options.

·      Yele Haiti 

·      Feed the Children 

·      The American Red Cross

·      UNICEF

·      Doctors without Borders

·      World Vision

Airlines and Hotels:

Airlines and hotels are letting rewards members donate mileage or points in order to donate money to relief. Many are participating but the following are some examples.

·      For instance Starwood Hotels is letting frequent guests at its Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, W and St. Regis hotels use 4,000 Starpoints to make a $50 donation to the American Red Cross.

·      United Airlines is also letting members of its Mileage Plus program donate miles to the Red Cross. On its "Support Haiti Earthquake Relief" Web site, the airline said as of 3 p.m. that 730,000 miles had been donated through this program.

There are plenty of ways to help so find an organization or method that best suits your preference and reach out to those in need.  Today and in the days to come the people in Haiti will need support from people around the world. Every little bit counts!

Dominic