Sam Bloch
 |
Samuel S. Bloch | |
|---|---|
 Bloch delivering food via helicopter to remote areas affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton in the southern United States (2024) | |
| 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 entrepreneur specializing in first response to natural disasters and conflict zones.
Career
[edit]Bloch's career began in Thailand in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Bloch went on to co-found Communitere International, first serving the 2010 Haiti earthquake[1] and then expanding operations to The Philippines in 2013, Nepal in 2015, and Greece in 2017.[2] Bloch and Communitere supported local businesses,[1] participated in maker faire conventions,[3] and aligned with the early efforts of Burners without Borders.[4] In 2018, Bloch began as the director of emergency response with World Central Kitchen (WCK),[5] focusing his efforts on hunger and food insecurity. Bloch has since been involved in relief for Cyclone Idai in Mozambique,[6] Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas,[7] the 2020 Aegean Sea earthquake in Turkey,[8] the 2023 Hawaii wildfires in Lāhainā,[9] the Russian invasion of Ukraine via Poland,[10] and the Gaza war in 2024.[11] As of 2025, Bloch has stepped down from his position at WCK and serves on the advisory board of Watch Duty.[12]
Awards and appearances
[edit]Bloch has spoken at TEDx,[13] Re:publica[14][15] and other international conferences[16] about the impact of resource center models in humanitarian relief. In 2017, Bloch won the Humanitarian STAR Award,[17][18] in Disaster Relief and Recovery, from the Sierra Madre Rotary club. In 2022, Bloch's work was shown in documentary film We Feed People with the World Central Kitchen and chef José Andrés.[19] In 2023, Bloch was interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour while organizing relief in Morocco after the Al Haouz earthquake.[20] In 2024, Bloch was interviewed to discuss addressing hunger on the Gaza strip by CNN[11] and The New York Times.[21]
Personal life
[edit]Bloch was born in January 1979 in New Jersey and is one of nine children. In the 2022 documentary film We Feed People he discussed how grief from the death of his brother, who sacrificed his life to rescue Sam from an accident, fuels the conviction needed for this relentless work. In the film, Bloch also shared his troubles with "holding down a relationship" because of the unpredictability associated with disaster relief.
References
[edit]- ^ a b ChangeStream Media (2013-01-21). Haiti Communitere. Retrieved 2024-11-21 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Communitere: Respond. Relief. Renewal". Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ "Making a Connection: a Response to the Refugee Crisis". Maker Faire. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
- ^ "#WeekofMaking: A Year in the Life of BWB's Mobile Resource Unit". Burning Man Journal. 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ "World Central Kitchen | Team". World Central Kitchen. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ "1K views · 76 reactions | Sam Bloch on AlJazeera LIVE at Peacock Displacement Camp | Our Director of Field Operations, Sam Bloch, was featured last weekend on Al Jazeera LIVE talking about our efforts to provide nutritious, hot meals to... | By World Central Kitchen | Facebook" – via www.facebook.com.
- ^ "Little Miracles, Huge Problems: The Bahamas A Month After Dorian". NPR.
- ^ 1.9K views · 261 reactions | UPDATE from WCK's Sam Bloch on the ground in Izmir, Turkey following Friday's big earthquake. We visited accommodation centers setup for displaced... | By World Central Kitchen | Facebook. Retrieved 2024-11-22 – via www.facebook.com.
- ^ "World Central Kitchen providing meals to Hawaii fire evacuees, emergency workers". DC News Now. 2023-08-10. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
- ^ "WCK's @SamBloch1 is on the ground at the Ukraine-Poland border".
- ^ a b "World Central Kitchen, founded by @chefjoseandres, provides on-the-ground aid during humanitarian crises".
- ^ "Team - Watch Duty". www.watchduty.org. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
- ^ TEDx Talks (2015-02-09). Innovation Through Community Driven Aid | Sam Bloch | TEDxManila. Retrieved 2024-11-21 – via YouTube.
- ^ re:publica (2016-05-06). re:publica 2016 – Sam Bloch: Hacking Humanitarian Aid. Retrieved 2024-11-21 – via YouTube.
- ^ re:publica (2017-05-19). re:publica 2017 – Sam Bloch: Dignity: The Maker Movement and Refugees. Retrieved 2024-11-21 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Sam Bloch Speaks at 2016 Global Innovation Forum Symposium | Communitere: Respond. Relief. Renewal". 2024-04-13. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
- ^ Rotary STAR Awards (2018-08-07). Sam Bloch. Retrieved 2024-11-21 – via YouTube.
- ^ Star, Rh. "2017 Nominees". RH STAR Awards. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
- ^ "'We Feed People' explores how World Central Kitchen feeds communities in crisis across the globe". www.wbur.org. May 26, 2022.
- ^ World Central Kitchen rushes into remote corners of Morocco to provide humanitarian relief. | CNN. 2023-09-11. Retrieved 2024-11-21 – via www.cnn.com.
- ^ Sella, Adam (25 March 2024). "How an Aid Group Built a Jetty to Get Food Into Gaza". The New York Times.