A devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Northern Ecuador on Saturday, April 16. Fuel Relief Fund Earthquake Response will source and provide free fuel to individuals, communities and aid agencies, powering vehicles and generators, providing first-response needs including medical aid, food, water, light and shelter. We have been at every major disaster over the past nine years including the earthquakes in Haiti, Japan and Nepal. Every dollar raised for relief efforts are used to provide fuel!
Six provinces in Ecuador have been declared a state of emergency. The death toll as of 28 April stands at 655, with 113 rescued alive, 4605 injured, 41 missing, and over 100,000 total affected population. 281 schools affected, 29,067 persons in shelters. A lack of predictable, uninterrupted fuel and power supply is critical to ensure survival of victims, as well as timely, effective and efficient disaster response particularly to outlying areas where the earthquake took its heaviest toll.
Fuel Relief Fund First Response Team is distributing fuel in Ecuador's hardest hit communities after Saturday's earthquake. Families and individuals do not have a source for fuel to cook and boil water, thus increasing their risk to water-borne diseases, as well as raising risks to health and security particularly to vulnerable groups. Our priorities are assisting individuals and families with free fuel to cover their household cooking, water purification and lighting needs for one month.
The project will provide free fuel to affected individuals, families and communities to provide for their basic survival needs; and with power, enabling them to recover income-generating activities. Fuel provided to local, state emergency and UN/ international relief agencies will strengthen the response and enable aid to more quickly reach larger numbers of people in need - including those in outlying areas. Power and light will minimize harm of vulnerable groups exposed to risks in darkness.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
