TIGER WOODS TO DONATE $3M TO HAITI EARTHQUAKE FUND

Tiger Woods is taking a giant leap back to respectability.

The golfer — who is said to have cheated on his wife, Elin, with several different women — is considering a $3 million donation that would send doctors and supplies to Haiti.

“Tiger Woods is working on sending a mobile hospital with 50 EMTs to go set up a triage,” rapper Russell Simmons told the New York Daily News newspaper.

Simmons and representatives from Wyclef Jean’s Haitian relief organization Yele have asked Woods to support the effort. Simmons’ spokesman has been in touch with Woods’ management team and they are “excited” about the idea.

“I am waiting to have the conversation [with Tiger] tomorrow morning,” Simmons’ spokesman Marcus Harris told the News. “I am hopeful that it is a yes.”

“I am just asking for his heart and his hand,” he said.

“Just to meet the needs of the people.”

A Haitian relief effort would be Woods’ first foray into public life since he took an indefinite leave of absence from golf following a massive sex scandal.

The Tiger Woods Foundation has put millions toward education and support projects for children around the world since 1996.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt announced Thursday that they have donated $1 million to help the earthquake victims.

Singer Usher also offered his help and encouraged others to do the same.

“I am devastated by the news in Haiti and am calling for youth worldwide to support and offer assistance to the millions of people in that area that are in dire need,” he said.

The You Make Me Wanna singer also said he was working with his charity Usher’s New Look “to figure out the most effective means of help”.

“I also know that young men and women have asked the same question — ‘How can I help?’,” he added.

“With Haiti in a state of emergency right now, young people do have the power to save lives.”

Athlete donations to Haiti keep pouring in

Retired NBA star Alonzo Mourning, NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick and the Washington Redskins are among several athletes and sports organizations contributing to the recovery effort in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The NFL and the players’ union announced Friday they would donate $500,000 US each to the American Red Cross and Partners In Health while the NBA and its union said they will contribute $1 million toward relief efforts.

Major League Baseball has already pledged $1 million while the NHL donated $100,000.

Haiti native Samuel Dalembert of the Philadelphia 76ers taped a public service announcement for UNICEF encouraging fans to contribute.

He also plans to address the crowd before the 76ers’ home game Friday, make a $100,000 donation to UNICEF and match the donations made by fans.

“I was going to go tomorrow morning, but you have to get clearance. It’s not like you can go to Santo Domingo and drive,” said Dalembert, who now hopes to visit Haiti next week. “If I could fly myself, I would go over there after every practice. I am just waiting.”

The NFL and its network broadcast partners plan to run messages before and during this weekend’s playoff games to encourage donations.

The announcements will direct viewers to the Red Cross website and feature Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma and Chargers defensive end Jacques Cesaire. Both players have Haitian parents.

NASCAR owner chipping in
Hendrick Motorsports announced it was loaning an airplane and two flight crews to Missionary Flights International, which will send support teams in and out of Port-au-Prince. The first flight was scheduled to leave Fort Pierce, Fla., on Saturday morning.

Hendrick is covering all the flight costs. At least one round trip flight is planned per day with no timeline for how long the plane and personnel will be on loan.

The Redskins are also flying medical supplies, personnel and clothing into Haiti with help from Diageo, one of the team’s business partners.

“We’re not a relief organization, but there are times when our resources allow us to step in and make a difference, if only a small one,” Redskins owner Daniel Snyder said. “Getting the right people and supplies to Haiti is critically important.”

World TeamTennis is donating clothing items for children through the organization Kids in Distressed Situations, and the Detroit Lions are donating $10,000 to the American Red Cross in the name of three players: Gosder Cherilus, Cliff Avril and Louis Delmas. All three are of Haitian descent.

“We’re trying to get a fundraiser started right now,” Avril said. “Getting supplies is a concern for the whole country. There’s no clean water. A lot of people don’t have places to stay. Water and medicine is needed.”

The Red Cross estimates 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday’s earthquake and some estimates put the death toll as high as 200,000.

Making a difference
Mourning arrived in the devastated capital of Port-au-Prince on Friday with Project Medishare, a Miami-based non-profit agency that has worked since 1995 to provide quality health care in Haiti.

He said in a statement first released to The Associated Press that athletes can “make a difference” for those affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks.

“The Haitian community has deep roots in Miami, a city which I have personally claimed as my own home for 15 years,” Mourning said. “As a longtime resident, I feel a profound sense of sadness for my many affected friends and neighbours.”

Mourning and former teammate Dwyane Wade are working together on a venture called the Athletes Relief Fund for Haiti. The Heat have also announced plans to send money and supplies, asking fans to give in exchange for ticket vouchers to February games.

“As professional athletes, we experience the positive effects of teamwork every day,” Wade said in Houston, where the Heat were playing the Rockets on Friday night. “Today, our attention is turned to Haiti. While an individual donation is valuable, there is also a special strength found within the force of a unified effort.”

The Associated Press