Torn again about which aid groups to support following a major natural disaster—this time Typhoon Naiyan—I felt compelled by a story I heard tonight on NPR about Fuel Relief Fund, the only organization in the world that provides free fuel after a disaster. Launched in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, and tested in 2010 in Haiti, and in 2011 in both Japan and Turkey, the fund purchases fuel as close to the disaster site as possible and gives it away to any individual or humanitarian group that needs it. Without Fuel Relief Fund, vehicles that provide aid, food, medical attention and other services to people in towns and villages devastated by Haiyan cannot move, generators cannot run, and the most basic of emergency services grind to a halt. Because the UN, Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, and many others are relying on Fuel Relief Fund today, I thought you’d also want to hear of their work.
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