Responding to emergencies around the world | ERDO Skip to main content

Responding to Crises

When a natural disaster strikes or people are caught in conflict, innocent children and their families have emergency needs.  People already experiencing poverty are especially vulnerable. Working with our network of partners and churches, we respond as soon as possible with things that are needed, like emergency food, water, sanitation, shelter and supplies. 

You can help us respond quickly in an emergency!

By giving to our crisis response fund, you can provide the resources needed to respond to the next crisis. You can also help us support families as they embark on the difficult challenge of rebuilding their lives and communities. As we rebuild alongside a community, we can increase their capacity to guard against future disasters.  

Thank you for making a life-changing donation to our Crisis Response fund today.

For specific active crisis responses, please read the list below.

Food for Yemen

In Yemen, after over seven years of war, families are left in desperate need. Over 80% of the country needs humanitarian assistance for survival. Today you can bring food and a livelihood to a family facing hunger and even starvation.

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Urgent Need

Crisis in Gaza

We know first-hand the toll war takes on the world’s most vulnerable people. Today, in Gaza, conflict is creating an enormous humanitarian crisis as lives are lost and innocent families are displaced. ERDO is responding alongside our Canadian Foodgrains Bank partners, bringing emergency food to families in need.

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Urgent Need

Refugee Programs

Thirsty, hungry and often without hope, families become refugees every single day due to war, hunger and disaster. Escaping with what little they can carry, access to food and safety is often difficult to find. Today, you can bring practical help to families who have become refugees around the world!

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War in Ukraine

Ukraine is at war and families are hungry, displaced and facing violence. Today you can bring emergency food, supplies and medicine to families directly in Ukraine.

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Matched 4:1

Food for the DRC

The Democratic Republic of Congo is experiencing a hunger crisis. Today, you can bring families in need a seven month supply of food. This program is matched 4x, meaning any gift you give stretches to reach even more people in need!

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2023 Crisis Response Summary

53

Worldwide projects

27

Countries helped

343,438

People in crisis assisted

$10.27 million

Spent on crisis response projects.

Read the 2023 Annual Report

Click each year below to reveal more about our past crisis response projects

We responded to some of the world’s most urgent needs:

  • Burundi: Flooding in Gatumba impacted our Wezesha business owners and temporarily shut down their businesses. We brought emergency food baskets to 750 people.
  • Dominican Republic: After Hurricane Fiona, we worked with partners to purchase materials and rebuild 7 homes. These homes are now hurricane resistant and will provide shelter in future disasters.
  • Malawi: Tropical Storm Freddy caused devastation in Malawi, destroying houses, causing food, water, and supply shortages. Working with a local church, we brought food and sanitary products to 100 people, gave 17 families cooking supplies, 50 people blankets, and rebuilt 3 homes.
  • Mexico: After Hurricane Agatha, we helped rebuild two residential homes and provided food for 30 families.
  • Myanmar: On March 14th, Cyclone Mocha damaged homes, infrastructure, and power and water services. We helped 150 of the most vulnerable families, about 600 people, with temporary shelters.
  • Turkey: Alongside a local partner, we helped distribute food and establish mobile hygiene units. We also helped construct a school for displaced children.
  • In restricted areas, we responded to two earthquakes, helping 2,238 people with food and supplies.

We brought food to families living with extreme hunger:

  • DRC: The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to face armed conflict, forcing families out of their homes. We provided 5 monthly food packs to 7,510 people living in 5 displacement camps.
  • Kenya: Kenya is experiencing extreme hunger, especially in the northern part of the country where it is difficult for the land to produce food. ERDO partnered with a local church organization to bring 9,600 people food for 7 months through food vouchers.
  • Somalia: ERDO worked with a local organization to bring emergency food to 6,000 vulnerable people for five months. The families we worked with live on the border of Kenya and Somlia, where food is extremely scarce. We also partnered to work with another 850 families in another district of Somalia.
  • South Africa: Alongside a local church, we worked with vulnerable communities in remote South Africa, providing 25 families with one time food supplies, and giving another 40 families a 3 months supply of food 3-4 times a year, along with hygiene supplies.
  • Uganda: After two years of poor harvests families in Uganda are struggling with hunger and malnutrition. We provided 7 monthly food baskets to 1,320 families and gave extra support to malnourished people.
  • Yemen: We helped provide 6 monthly food packages to 6,013 people in a conflict area.

We helped care for refugees and internally displaced people:

  • Croatia: Responding to Ukrainian refugees in Croatia, we brought food, hygiene supplies, diapers, school supplies, and clothes to 23 families. With scarce electricity, we also provided firewood to these families.
  • Czech Republic: Working with the local church, we sent food and medical supplies to Ukraine to help 2,000 displaced people. Supplies were also given to Ukrainian refugees in Czech Republic.
  • DRC: The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to face armed conflict, forcing families out of their homes. We provided 5 monthly food packs to 7,510 people living in 5 displacement camps across DRC.
  • Hungary: 1,000 displaced Roma families were given food, supplies and medicine in partnership with Hungarian Gypsy Missions.
  • Moldova: Alongside The Pentecostal Union of Moldova, we are continuing to help Ukrainian refugees find shelter in churches. We gave out food, bedding, clothing, hygiene items and supplies to 130 people.
  • Poland: Continuing to work with Life Centres, we’re providing food hampers, supplies and coaching to Ukrainian 2,000 people settling in Poland. Coaching includes helping people find employment, language courses, trauma counselling, and helping people get involved in the community.
  • Romania: Working with 2,000 Ukrainian refugees in Romania, we helped provide shelter, food, clothing, support and counselling.
  • Slovakia: Working with the church, we helped provide food, medicine and supplies to 2,000 displaced people in Ukraine, 1,500 refugees in Slovakia and 500 Roma people. We also provided food, blankets, generators, and sleeping bags to 8,800 people in Ukraine during the winter months.
  • Ukraine: We provided food, water, shelter, sanitation and transportation for displaced people in Ukraine. In total, we worked with 42,500 people and 1,500 families.

We responded to some of the world’s most urgent needs: 

  • Pakistan: Supporting people impacted by severe flooding, we provided emergency food and shelter to 3,000 families.
  • Haiti: Rebuilding homes, we ensured 20 families would have earthquake and hurricane proof housing after their property was destroyed in the 2021 earthquake.
  • Bangladesh: Responding to severe flooding, we brought emergency food baskets to 2,000 families.
  • Yemen: Combatting the global food crisis, we provided emergency food supplies to 1,200 families.
  • The Democratic Republic of Congo: Responding to families suffering through hunger, conflict and illness, we provided emergency food supplies to 1,180 families in the DRC.
  • Myanmar: Partnering with families in the middle of conflict, we brought emergency food supplies to 1,320 families.
  • Kenya: Working with families suffering drought, we gave cash transfers to 700 families to buy local food.

We mobilized assistance for families fleeing war in Ukraine: 

  • Serving people living in active war zones in Ukraine, we provided over 34,000 families with emergency food, water, everyday essentials and shelter. From partners in Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic, we sent supplies to another 9,543 people displaced in Ukraine.
  • Poland,Slovakia and Croatia: Provided over 33,156 people with emergency food and essential items.
  • Poland: Educating refugees, we helped fund a preschool to provide for 60 Ukrainian children settling into a new environment.
  • Slovakia: Working with refugees, we provided shelter for 25 people who fled war in Ukraine.
  • Moldova: Assisting at the border crossing, we supplied food, bedding, clothing, hygiene products and other supplies to 300 refugees.
  • Czech Republic: Assisting Ukrainian refugees, we gave 200 people transportation to safety and shelter.
  • Roma: Supporting vulnerable Roma groups internally displaced in Ukraine, we provided emergency relief packs to 300 people.

We helped care for refugees and internally displaced people:

  • Turkey: Assisting 2,152 refugees, we provided grocery cards, hygiene and sanitation kits.
  • Myanmar: Caring for victims of violence, we provided psychosocial support to 949 families who fled their homes.
  • Yemen: Bringing families together during wartime, we provided food assistance, cash-for-work initiatives, solar training and peacebuilding programs for 3,049 families.

  • Responded to the August 14th earthquake in Haiti by providing emergency food baskets, hygiene and household supplies to approximately 900 families.
  • Continued to assist 800 families facing insurgence in Myanmar with emergency food. Many of these families were ethnic minorities, threatened with violence and facing extreme poverty.
  • Helped after the St. Vincent volcano eruption, through a daily meal for evacuees and helped reconstruct damaged homes and roofs.
  • Partnered with the ChildCARE Plus team and local pastors to provide food, supplies and housing repair to 150 families after flooding in Cambodia.
  • Debris removal, emergency food, and hygiene supplies for families affected by Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Honduras and Guatemala.
  • Roofing materials and other supplies to repair or replace the roofs of 125 houses damaged by hurricanes in Philippines.
  • Assisted Zimbabwe after years of drought through emergency food for 4,550 people in need.
  • Emergency food for 7,800 people in Yemen. We also developed a cash-for-work program to employ 6,400 locals and develop community building initiatives.
  • Responded to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we helped deliver emergency food packages, household items and medical supplies to 400 of the neediest families in Chennai, India.
  • Supported the Kolkata Mercy Hospital and the GEMS hospital in Chennai with two breathing machines, an ICU ventilator, and an oxygen generation unit.
  • Provided hygiene and sanitation kits to care for 1,300 refugees in Turkey who fled their home countries due to conflict.
  • Replaced 15 wells that had been destroyed in a fire to bring clean water to approximately 8,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
  • Assisted 3,600 South Sudanese refugees living in Uganda with psychosocial, trauma healing and peace building support in the Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement.

All of ERDO’s existing programs required adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic. We ensured that all program staff had the required adequate personal protective equipment to administer programs. We also had to incorporate social distancing and other safeguarding procedures (including for food preparation/distribution). Restrictions on movement and on the market availability of goods also impacted our programs.

Despite the challenges we were able to:

  • Respond to flooding in Uganda with emergency hygiene kits while helping the community plan for future disasters with emergency preparedness training.
  • Provide emergency food for 11,000 children in Zimbabwe, 6,400 people in Yemen, 2,550 pregnant and nursing mothers, and other vulnerable refugees in Uganda.
  • Provide emergency food vouchers for 1,690 people in the wake of the Beirut explosion.
  • Work through our ChildCARE Plus locations to provide emergency food to sponsored children and their families.

  • Food assistance for South Sudanese refugees was a priority in 2019, as five years of violence and insecurity took a toll on women, children and vulnerable individuals. ERDO’s partner, the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) Uganda, provided supplementary feeding through a fortified corn and soy blend cereal to save lives in Rhino Camp and Imvepi Refugee Settlement.
  • PAG Uganda and ERDO identified pregnant and nursing mothers as falling into a nutritional gap when it came to life-saving food distributions. Focusing on providing nutritious food for these women, we also provided fortified cereal to children separated from their parents, the elderly, the vulnerable, those with chronic illnesses like HIV/AIDS, TB, Hepatitis B and people with disabilities.
  • With the trauma of being uprooted from one’s home, another aspect of our programming was to build the capacity of 31 community facilitators. These community leaders are refugees trained to support the psychosocial needs of over 3,700 South Sudan refugees living within 10 villages in Ofua and Ocea zones of Rhino Camp, Northern Uganda. All 31 facilitators have been trained on how to know when people need extra support, including identifying post-traumatic stress disorder, and knowing who to refer them to.
  • We also assisted South Sudanese refugees in the Ugandan Rhino Refugee Camp with school supplies. Many refugee children struggle to find the tools they need for their education. In partnership with PAG Uganda, we helped to equip 490 students with the supplies, backpacks and books needed to succeed in school.
  • In response to the devastating food crisis in Yemen, ERDO launched a six-month food assistance program along with a trusted local Christian partner. To address the onset of famine conditions in the south, monthly food basket distributions were provided to 800 vulnerable households, about 5,120 people. This project received a 4:1 Canadian government match through our membership in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
  • A severe drought in Somalia left two million people facing starvation in the summer of 2019.  Thanks to the response of supporters, ERDO provided emergency food to approximately 4,000 people per month for three months through our local partner. The total program provided over $325,000 in emergency food supplies, when matched by the generosity of the Canadian government.
  • ERDO continued meeting the needs of Rohingya refugees who poured into Bangladesh to escape persecution. With our partner, The Pentecostal Assemblies of Bangladesh (PAOB), families were provided with food (rice, lentils, oil and other essentials) and emergency kits including flashlights, replacement clothing, hygiene kits and supplies for other basic needs. In addition, we saw clean water was a priority, so the installation of over 40 deep tube wells within the refugee camps took place.
  • A Guatemalan volcano relief project was completed in February 2019. In June 2018 the Fuego eruptions devastated several towns around the active volcano. This housing reconstruction project served 35 widows and their families in in San Andreas, Osuna. The project was in partnership with PAOC Global Workers Hector and Ruth Aragon, who have been serving in Guatemala for over 20 years.
  • Food needs in Zimbabwe continued to be a focus. ERDO and our partner the Pentecostal Assemblies of Zimbabwe (PAOZ) provided fortified cereal to 11,575 children under 5 and youth with special needs.  These children were at risk of malnutrition due to severe drought conditions in 30 communities throughout Tsholotsho District. As this drought was ongoing, and the worsening economic situation left families unable to afford food, we expanded this project to the Gutu and Zaka Districts. We provided families with ten kg of ground maize, two kg of beans and one L of fortified cooking oil per family member per month.