Bono and Jay-Z performing their song Stranded (Mon Amour Haiti)

For those not online or watching TV last Friday night, January 22, you missed one of the most progressive new media and star-packed fundraising events ever held, called Hope For Haiti Now. Created by George Clooney with assistant director Drew Barrymore, the fundraiser ran on several networks including a live stream online, with donation set-ups ranging from old-school call-ins to a phone bank managed by a slew of celebrities including Leonardo Dicaprio, Julia Roberts, and Brad Pitt, to text messaging donations or downloading songs from iTunes for 99 cents from musicians performing impromptu Super Groups such as Sting, Coldplay, Bono, the Edge, Jay-Z, Rhianna, Madonna, Alicia Keys, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, and many others.

On Saturday it was reported that some $57 million had been raised to benefit Haiti relief efforts including Oxfam America, UNICEF, and the Clinton-Bush Haiti Foundation, and that wasn’t counting all of the donations by corporations.

The song Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour) by Jay-Z, Rhianna, The Edge, and Bono hit #1 on iTunes for downloads at 99 cents this weekend and is expected to rank among the highest ever downloaded. You can also get the entire concert on iTunes for $7.99.

An estimated 200,000 people from Haiti are estimated to be dead from the 7.0 earthquake that destroyed much of the country. Last weekend, the difficult decision was made to stop looking for the dead in the buried rubble, and to evacuate the capital of Port-au Prince to begin the massive clean-up efforts of concrete slabs, metal, and debris. Some 400,000 are now being moved to make-shift temporary housing where possible, including tents, creating a refugee like situation, which fortunately is somewhat organized.

Obviously donations are still needed to assist with helping this country. Go to HopeforHaitiNow.org to do your part.