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These individuals refer to themselves as the "salvage squad". After losing their jobs when overseas aid was slashed recently, a group of committed staff chose to launch their own support program.

Refusing to "remain in despair", an ex-staffer, along with like-minded past team members, initiated efforts to save some of the crucial programmes that were threatened with termination after the reductions.

Now, almost 80 programmes have been preserved by a matchmaking service managed by the leader and other former agency employees, which has found them in excess of $110 million in fresh financial support. The group behind the Project Resource Optimization effort calculates it will assist forty million people, covering many young kids.

After the termination of operations, funds were halted, a large workforce was let go, and international programmes either came to a shuddering halt or were barely continuing toward what the leader calls "drop-dead dates".

The former staffer and a few co-workers were contacted by a foundation that "wanted to understand how they could make the best use of their constrained funds".

They created a list from the ended initiatives, identifying those "providing the most life-saving aid per dollar" and where a alternative supporter could practically intervene and continue the work.

They rapidly recognized the need was more extensive than that initial foundation and commenced to approach other potential donors.

"We dubbed ourselves the rescue team at the start," explains the leader. "The vessel has been collapsing, and there are insufficient emergency options for all initiatives to board, and so we're attempting to literally protect as many young children as we can, get as many on to these rescue options as possible, via the projects that are delivering aid."

The project, now functioning as part of a international policy center, has secured funding for seventy-nine initiatives on its selection in over thirty regions. A few have had initial backing reinstated. Several others were unable to be rescued in time.

Backing has been provided by a mix of philanthropic foundations and private benefactors. The majority prefer to stay unidentified.

"The supporters stem from varied motivations and viewpoints, but the unifying theme that we've heard from them is, 'People are horrified by what's happening. I sincerely wish to find a method to step in,'" says Rosenbaum.

"In my view that there was an 'lightbulb moment' for the entire team as we started working on this, that this created an possibility to pivot from the passive sadness, remaining in the gloom of everything that was happening around us, to having something productive to deeply commit to."

One project that has secured backing through the effort is work by the the medical alliance to offer support such as nutritional rehabilitation, prenatal and postnatal support and crucial pediatric vaccinations in the country.

It is essential to continue these initiatives, explains the economist, not only because resuming activities if they ended would be prohibitively pricey but also because of how much confidence would be lost in the conflict-ravaged areas if the organization withdrew.

"Alima shared […] 'there is fear that if we withdraw, we may be unable to return.'"

Projects with future-focused aims, such as bolstering healthcare networks, or in additional areas such as schooling, have been excluded from the project's focus. It also is not trying to preserve programmes forever but to "buy time for the groups and, frankly, the larger network, to determine a longer-term solution".

After securing backing for each programme on its initial list, the team states it will now concentrate on helping more people with "proven, cost-effective interventions".