Climate Disaster Fund

World Central Kitchen (WCK) is first to the frontlines providing meals in response to climate, humanitarian, and community crises. In November 2021, WCK launched the Climate Disaster Fund as our decade-long commitment to raise and spend $1 billion to support communities impacted by the climate crisis. While there are unknowns for a disaster relief organization—such as when, where, or how many crises will occur—our Climate Disaster Fund gives WCK the resources to respond with the “urgency of now” on a global scale without having to wait for disaster-specific funding. We are grateful for your incredible support of our climate-related relief work.Together, we helped provide nourishment—as well as comfort, hope, and dignity—to impacted communities around the world. Including the conclusion of our responses to the monsoon flooding in Pakistan and Hurricane Erick in Mexico, WCK responded to 14 climate crises between June and October 2025, serving more than 5.2 million meals to impacted communities. We are pleased to share summaries of several of our emergency responses below:

Hurricane Erick (June - July): In June, Hurricane Erick slammed into the southern coast as a strong Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 125 mph to become the first major Pacific hurricane of the 2025 season. Erick underwent rapid intensification—when maximum sustained winds increase at least 35 mph in 24 hours—as the storm approached Mexico’s Pacific Coast, making landfall between Acapulco and Puerto Escondido. Local authorities reported downed power lines, flooding, landslides, and washed away roads. WCK’s Relief Team distributed fresh sandwiches while we assessed food support needs. Hurricane Erick impacted many of the same communities in and around Acapulco for a third year in a row, following the devastation left behind by Hurricane Otis in 2023 and Hurricane John in 2024. Having responded to all three hurricanes, WCK was able to reignite existing partnerships with local restaurants, aid groups, and community leaders to help expedite a speedy and efficient response. Our teams also prioritized the distribution of culturally-appropriate food kits aimed at supporting the long-term recovery of impacted families. In total, WCK served nearly 700,000 meals in just 18 days via hot plates of food, sandwiches, food kits (each designed to provide 25 meals), and bulk food item purchases for locally operated community kitchens.

Wildfires in Canada (June - July): This summer, dry conditions and high temperatures caused multiple wildfires to rip through northern Canada, burning 1.7 million acres in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta. In total over 25,000 people across these provinces were evacuated from their homes. A team from WCK arrived quickly in Winnipeg, and—working alongside our local food truck partners—began serving hot meals at the Billy Mosienko Arena, a local hub for relief that served as a shelter for displaced families. Our teams also supported Winnipeg and the surrounding areas by serving warm meals in shelters, welcome centers, and through local contacts in the First Nations communities—where we delivered meals to hotels hosting displaced residents. In late June, we supported two events with meals, including a celebration for Nation Indigenous People Day where we served meals to 400 people. In July, wildfires burned over a million hectares in Manitoba. WCK worked with the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) Command Center to provide the local Métis community with meals and other vital supplies. The steady supply of food the MMF received from WCK drastically helped their teams expand the reach of their relief efforts, from the Manitoba Métis community to other evacuees and First Nations families in need.In total, WCK served more than 45,000 meals in response to the wildfires in Canada.

Texas Hill Country Floods (July - August): On July 4, heavy downpours inundated communities in central Texas, with some areas receiving over 15 inches of rain in just a few hours. The Guadalupe River overflowed and caught local communities by surprise, sweeping away entire homes as floodwaters poured into neighborhoods, roadways, and nearby summer camps. Children and families at summer camps in the area were impacted by flooding, with many people stranded or missing. WCK reached children and staff at summer camps with fresh meals before they were safely evacuated. We provided hot meals at a reunification center where evacuees were gathering to reconnect with loved ones. In Hunt, we supported the Camp Mystic community, which was hit hard by the flooding. Our meals reached families at reunification centers, hotels, and rescue crews on-site at the camp and grieving families. In addition to the impacted summer camps, we delivered hot meals and sandwiches in hard-hit communities including Kerrville, Hunt, Ingram, and Georgetown. The team served these meals to displaced families sheltering in hotels or with other family members, and to first responders working long hours in the search zone. In Kerr County, WCK established a base at The Hunt Store, a longtime and treasured presence in the community. From this location WCK provided thousands of fresh meals. In total, WCK served more than 45,000 meals to impacted communities alongside 30+ local restaurant partners.

Pakistan Monsoon Floods (September - October): In early September, the worst monsoon flooding to hit Pakistan in over 40 years forced more than 500,000 local residents to flee their homes in search of safety. The floods unleashed devastating levels of damage across most of eastern and southern Pakistan, directly affecting and disrupting food systems for approximately 3.3 million people. WCK worked alongside our long-standing and trusted local partner, Rizq, to launch a widespread, multi-faceted emergency response spanning more than 260 communities across Jalalpur, Alipur, Narowal, and Hafizabad. Initial relief efforts centered around establishing community kitchens to serve warm meals to the hardest-hit regions that were left completely cut off by the floods. As access to impacted communities slowly returned, our teams shifted to distribute food kits—each including enough ingredients to feed a family of 4 for 22 days—allowing families to cook for themselves again in the hopes of returning some sense of normalcy amidst the destruction. In just five weeks, WCK distributed over 4.4 million meals to families affected by the monsoon floods.

Thank you again—we are so grateful for your support of our climate-related relief efforts!

Links:

• Supporting recovering communities in Texas
• Meals provide hope after the fires in Spain
• First 48 Hours of a WCK relief effort

World Central Kitchen (WCK) is first to the frontlines providing meals in response to climate, humanitarian, and community crises. In November 2021 we launched the Climate Disaster Fund as our decade-long commitment to raise and spend $1 billion to support communities impacted by the climate crisis. While there are unknowns for a disaster relief organization—such as when, where, or how many crises will occur—our Climate Disaster Fund gives WCK the resources to respond with the “urgency of now” on a global scale without having to wait for disaster-specific funding. We are grateful for your incredible support of our climate-related relief work.Together, we helped provide nourishment—as well as comfort, hope, and dignity—to impacted communities around the world. Including the conclusion of our response to the wildfires in Los Angeles and the landfall of Cyclone Chido along the island of Mayotte, WCK responded to seven climate crises and concluded three climate relief efforts between February and June 2025, serving more than 4 million meals to impacted communities. We are pleased to share summaries of several of our emergency responses below:

LA Wildfires (January 2025 - June 2025):In early January, multiple wildfires broke out and burned across major residential areas in Los Angeles County. The quick-moving blazes proved very difficult to contain for local firefighters and first responders. In response, WCK activated a strong network of over 100 local food supplier partners—including restaurants, food trucks, and farmers—to serve comforting meals to families affected by the fires. WCK also opened a series of farmers markets where residents could collect fresh, locally-grown produce for free. Our teams distributed grocery store gift cards to restaurant workers and owners who lost their sources of income to the blazes. In total, WCK served more than 1.6 million nourishing meals, distributed over 63,000 gallons of fresh water, sponsored farmers markets, and provided grocery and restaurant gift cards to impacted individuals.

Cyclone Chido (December 2024 - March 2025): In mid-December, Cyclone Chido directly hit Mayotte, a small overseas French department with a population of about 320,000 people, as a Category 4 storm with winds up to 225 km/h (140 mph). Entire communities were devastated and communications down across much of the island, along with electricity, water, and basic services. WCK’s Relief team constructed a Field Kitchen and partnered with more than a dozen restaurants across Mayotte, where cooks prepared warm, comforting meals for people without access to food. In addition to hot meals, WCK provided food kits to families who were able to cook for themselves. These kits, which were assembled with locally sourced ingredients, supported a family of five for several days. Each kit included fruit, milk, flour, and cooking essentials like charcoal. WCK served more than 4 million meals to families.

March Tornado Outbreak (March 2025 - May 2025): In mid-March, a dangerous storm system led to a deadly tornado outbreak stretching across most of the American Midwest, including hard-hit communities across Missouri, Kansas, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. In its wake, the severe weather outbreak unleashed wildfires, dust storms, and a series of devastating tornadoes that wreaked havoc on impacted communities. The tornadoes—with wind speeds surpassing 190 mph in some areas—leveled entire communities, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of local residents, and resulted in the deaths of more than 40 people. To help reach each impacted area, WCK’s Community Outreach Team built a network of over 80 restaurant partners spread across eight states, each stepping up to help feed their neighbors in need. Building on our knowledge and previous partnerships from past responses like the 2024 tornado outbreak in Florida and Alabama, WCK was able to feed hungry people across an immense geographic area. In total, our teams—working shoulder-to-shoulder with our local restaurant partners—served more than 158,000 warm meals to families affected by the series of tornadoes.

Missouri and Kentucky Tornadoes (May 2025 - June 2025): In May, another dangerous tornado system swept across the midwest, affecting some of the same communities that were impacted in March. Similar to mid-March, the tornadoes uprooted thousands of structures, tore down power lines, and damaged major roadways, displacing people from their homes and leaving the hardest-hit communities cut off from food, water, and other vital resources. Poised and ready to respond, WCK began serving meals in Missouri and Kentucky on day one, as soon as the tornadoes passed. Once again, WCK activated a network of local partners—more than 60 in total—to lead the charge in serving warm meals and distributing clean drinking water to their fellow residents. To help increase our daily cooking capacity, WCK mobilized our Rapid Response Field Kitchen, a large truck specially designed to convert into a Field Kitchen capable of cooking thousands of meals per day. WCK served more than 145,000 meals to impacted communities.

Thank you again, we are so grateful for your support of our climate-related relief efforts!

Links:

• An inside look of supplying Mayotte's recovery
• Learn more about how WCK fed LA during the fires
• WCK's Response to the flooding in Buenos Aires