St. Paul Writer Features Free Short Story to Help Raise Funds for Haiti
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 4:22PM ST. PAUL, AB, January 26, 2010 St. Paul writer Eileen Schuh was looking for a creative way to encourage others to donate to the Haiti relief effort after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the small island country on January 12, 2010, so she has posted a free short story on her website at EileenSchuh.com to encourage more donations to Haiti and she has donated money she saved after she quit smoking.
With over 150,000 people in Haiti now buried and more bodies yet to be discovered, it is going to take time and money to rebuild this country. The death toll is estimated to be over 200,000. Over 1,000,000 people are homeless. Desperation has set in.
In the small town of St. Paul, Alberta, one writer wanted to make a difference. Eileen Schuh has posted a free short story on her website, with a special message to readers. "The following short story is a humourous/romantic sci-fi. I'm offering it to my fans free of charge, to read at their leisure on my website. I only ask that, if you enjoy the read…please make a donation to the Haitian Earthquake Relief Effort…I thank you. The people of Haiti thank you. The entire universe thanks you." She follows this with links to the Canadian Red Cross and American Red Cross.
"I initially wanted to give my fans, family, and friends something in return for their unfailing support and encouragement of my writing career," Schuh explains. "I was feeling a little disheartened at my lack of publishing success, as well as a little like I was letting everyone down. My short story A Nepaterian Visitation is a thank you gift to everyone for sticking with me."
Then Schuh thought of Haiti. "I can imagine how alone, helpless and hopeless the individual Haitians feel during such a disaster," she states. "Parents would be unable to help their children. It would be emotional agony on top of the all the fear and physical pain."
Schuh has made her own personal donation to the Red Cross Haitian relief effort the money she saved by not smoking. In fact, she’d like to challenge all recently quit smokers to donate what they believe they would have spent on cigarettes. "Not only has my quitting helped me, but it has now helped others. It seemed like a lot to donate, but it’s what I would have spent on cigarettes without cringing." Schuh took her last puff at the end of August 2009 and figures she saved about $1000.00.
Schuh adds, "I’d like to see this earthquake become a positive turning point for this impoverished nation. It's my hope that by showing we care, Haitians will discover that the rest of the world does consider them important, does care, does feel their pain and is eager to help in a very generous way, and that they’ll realize they are accepted, wanted, and needed by the rest of the world."
Eileen Schuh is a writer of young adult fiction and adult fiction. She is currently looking for an agent and a publisher for her completed novels. You can learn more about her by visiting her website or blog.
http://www.eileenschuh.blogspot.com
You can follow Eileen on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/eileenschuh
Contact Info:
Eileen Schuh
Email: eileenschuh@yahoo.com
Phone: 780-645-7890