The Fuel Relief Fund Is Making a Power Play—Bringing Fuel to Disaster Zones Around the World
When a crisis hits, there are some needs we can all anticipate—food and clean water, shelter, nurses and doctors to provide medical care. But other essentials are less obvious. The people who run the Fuel Relief Fund know that. The organization is the leading non-profit that focuses on getting fuel into disaster zones. Since 2005, when it came to the aid of people in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, it has responded to 17 large-scale emergencies and distributed hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel.
FRF operates with limited staff and resources, diverting most of its efforts to crises on the ground. But now its outdated software is holding it back. Our grant will help FRF fund the development of a custom software application, easing the administrative burden on staffers.
“Nothing happens without fuel,” explains Kate Bickford, an administrator with the Fuel Relief Fund. “First responders can’t power their vehicles, hospitals can’t administer life-saving treatments, and disaster survivors can’t heat their homes, power their cooking appliances, or charge their phones to tell their loved ones they’re okay.” It’s simple, she adds. “Fuel saves lives.” It may not be glamorous work, but we’re energized just thinking about it.