The first-anniversary show for indiecredit, a local initiative that raises funds for loans through Kiva, will be held this Thursday, January 21 at Rancho Relaxo (300 College St) in Toronto, with music from the Dreamboats, the Skirt Chasers and Yukon Cigar. We’ve had a lot of success raising money for Kiva, and we are really dedicated to the work that group does…but we’ve decided to do something a bit different with indiecredit this time around.

We decided to throw shows in support of Kiva because we believed that it was important to support efforts to help people in developing countries be self-sufficient. Kiva loans help people who have already undertaken entrepreneurial efforts, freeing them from constant dependence on international aid and allowing them to improve their future in the way that they think is best for them and their families. There is no shortage of important causes out there, needing our support, but this is one we felt strongly about. So far, our efforts through indiecredit have resulted in $4750 in Kiva loans.

That said, sometimes something spectacularly terrible happens, and what is needed is money, lots of it, and now. The earthquake in Haiti a week ago is one of those situations.

Fifty-thousand people have already been confirmed killed in Haiti due to the earthquake, and the official toll could go as high as 200,000; tens of thousands more are injured, many of them seriously. Survivors are still being pulled from crumbled buildings, and the living are at risk from diseases that often spread in the aftermath of a natural disaster, so time is of the essence. For that reason, we’ve decided that the funds raised at indiecredit on January 21 will be donated to Medicins Sans Frontieres, to help them save lives in Haiti.

MSF has been operating in Haiti for several years, so they had people on the ground when the quake hit. They have been working to treat the injured ever since, and an inflatable hospital for them to work out of recently arrived in Port-au-Prince. But their existing facilities in Haiti’s capital were destroyed in the quake, and the need is enormous. The money we raise for MSF at indiecredit will triple, because of donation matching from an employer and the Canadian government. We hope you can make it out.

Haiti’s story was tragic even before a 7.0-magnitude quake nearly leveled Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, but we don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the way the international community responds now will play an enormous role in determining Haiti’s future. Thanks so much for all your support over the past year, and we hope to see you on Thursday!

Photo credit: AIDG, through Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/aidg/