Samuel S. Bloch | |
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Born | January 1979 New Jersey, United States of America |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Humanitarian aid; first response to natural disasters and conflict zones |
Samuel Steven Bloch (he/him; pronunciation: Block or [blɑːk]) is an American humanitarian aid worker specializing in first response to natural disasters and conflict zones, working in over 50 countries. Bloch's career began in Thailand in response to the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Bloch then went on to found Communitere International expanding its operations from serving the 2010 Haiti earthquake to events in Greece, The Philippines, and Nepal [1]. In 2018, Bloch began in his current role as the director of emergency response with World Central Kitchen (WCK)[2], focusing his efforts on hunger and food insecurity. Bloch has since then led the logistics of nearly 100 responses [2], including large-scale efforts in the Israel-Hamas war on the Gaza strip[3], the Russian invasion of Ukraine via Poland[4], 2023 Hawaii wildfires in Lāhainā[5], 2020 Aegean Sea earthquake in Turkey[6], Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas[7], and Cyclone Idai in Mozambique[8].