Sam Bloch
{{Short description|Humanitarian aid entrepreneur}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Samuel S. Bloch
| image = File:Sam Bloch.png
| image_upright = 1.35
| caption = Bloch delivering food via helicopter to remote areas affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton in the southern United States (2024)
| alt = Sam Block
| birth_date = January 1979
| birth_place = New Jersey, United States of America
| nationality = American
| known for = Humanitarian aid; first response to natural disasters and conflict zones
| module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Re publica 2016 – Sam Bloch Hacking Humanitarian Aid.ogg|title=Sam Bloch's voice|type=speech|description=Bloch on his approach to humanitarian relief
Recorded 2016}}
}}
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
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{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9x5uV2WdT4 |title=Haiti Communitere |date=2013-01-21 |last=ChangeStream Media |access-date=2024-11-21 |via=YouTube}} and then expanding operations to The Philippines in 2013, Nepal in 2015, and Greece in 2017.{{Cite web |title=Communitere: Respond. Relief. Renewal. |url=https://communitere.org/ |access-date=2024-11-21 |language=en-US}} Bloch and Communitere supported local businesses, participated in maker faire conventions,{{Cite web |title=Making a Connection: a Response to the Refugee Crisis |url=https://makerfaire.com/maker/entry/63169/ |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Maker Faire |language=en}} and aligned with the early efforts of Burners without Borders.{{Cite web |date=2017-06-21 |title=#WeekofMaking: A Year in the Life of BWB's Mobile Resource Unit |url=https://journal.burningman.org/2017/06/global-network/burners-without-borders/weekofmaking-a-year-in-the-life-of-bwbs-mobile-resource-unit/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=Burning Man Journal |language=en-US}} In 2018, Bloch began as the director of emergency response with World Central Kitchen (WCK),{{Cite web |title=World Central Kitchen {{!}} Team |url=https://wck.org/team |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=World Central Kitchen |language=en-us}} focusing his efforts on hunger and food insecurity. Bloch has since been involved in relief for Cyclone Idai in Mozambique,{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/WorldCentralKitchen/videos/2151721531807535/|title=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}} Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas,{{Cite web |title=Little Miracles, Huge Problems: The Bahamas A Month After Dorian |website=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/10/15/770107636/after-dorians-wrath-little-miracles-amid-a-painful-recovery}} the 2020 Aegean Sea earthquake in Turkey,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.facebook.com/WorldCentralKitchen/videos/3555151541194577/ |title=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 |language=en |access-date=2024-11-22 |via=www.facebook.com}} the 2023 Hawaii wildfires in Lāhainā,{{Cite web |date=2023-08-10 |title=World Central Kitchen providing meals to Hawaii fire evacuees, emergency workers |url=https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/us-and-world/world-central-kitchen-providing-meals-to-hawaii-fire-evacuees-emergency-workers/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=DC News Now |language=en-US}} the Russian invasion of Ukraine via Poland,{{Cite web|url=https://x.com/WCKitchen/status/1497347127680380934?lang=en/|title=WCK's @SamBloch1 is on the ground at the Ukraine-Poland border}} and the Gaza war in 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://x.com/NewsCentralCNN/status/1755332263078707677|title=World Central Kitchen, founded by @chefjoseandres, provides on-the-ground aid during humanitarian crises}} As of 2025, Bloch has stepped down from his position at WCK and serves on the advisory board of Watch Duty.{{Cite web |title=Team - Watch Duty |url=https://www.watchduty.org/about/team |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.watchduty.org |language=en}}
Awards and appearances
Bloch has spoken at TEDx,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vicY4opfWSY&t=2s |title=Innovation Through Community Driven Aid {{!}} Sam Bloch {{!}} TEDxManila |date=2015-02-09 |last=TEDx Talks |access-date=2024-11-21 |via=YouTube}} Re:publica{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKeMxLgOAqk |title=re:publica 2016 – Sam Bloch: Hacking Humanitarian Aid |date=2016-05-06 |last=re:publica |access-date=2024-11-21 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmfi_EzrDgw |title=re:publica 2017 – Sam Bloch: Dignity: The Maker Movement and Refugees |date=2017-05-19 |last=re:publica |access-date=2024-11-21 |via=YouTube}} and other international conferences{{Cite web |date=2024-04-13 |title=Sam Bloch Speaks at 2016 Global Innovation Forum Symposium {{!}} Communitere: Respond. Relief. Renewal. |url=https://www.communitere.org/sam-bloch-speaks-at-2016-global-innovation-forum-symposium/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240413023344/https://www.communitere.org/sam-bloch-speaks-at-2016-global-innovation-forum-symposium/ |archive-date=13 April 2024 |access-date=2024-12-26}} about the impact of resource center models in humanitarian relief. In 2017, Bloch won the Humanitarian STAR Award,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjbvojJk47E&t=164s |title=Sam Bloch |date=2018-08-07 |last=Rotary STAR Awards |access-date=2024-11-21 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite web |last=Star |first=Rh |title=2017 Nominees |url=https://rhstar.org/2017-nominees/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=RH STAR Awards |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/05/26/we-feed-people-andres-howard|title='We Feed People' explores how World Central Kitchen feeds communities in crisis across the globe|date=May 26, 2022|website=www.wbur.org}} In 2023, Bloch was interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour while organizing relief in Morocco after the Al Haouz earthquake.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/09/11/exp-sam-bloch-morocco-earthquake-intw-fst091101pseg1-cnni-world.cnn |title=World Central Kitchen rushes into remote corners of Morocco to provide humanitarian relief. {{!}} CNN |date=2023-09-11 |language=en |access-date=2024-11-21 |via=www.cnn.com}} In 2024, Bloch was interviewed to discuss addressing hunger on the Gaza strip by CNN and The New York Times.{{Cite web |title=How an Aid Group Built a Jetty to Get Food Into Gaza |website=The New York Times |date=25 March 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/25/world/middleeast/gaza-aid-ship-jetty.html |last1=Sella |first1=Adam }}
Personal life
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
External links
- [https://www.communitere.org/ Communitere International]