Aid Still Required

Aid Still Required, commonly abbreviated ASR, is a United States nonprofit humanitarian organization established in Santa Monica, California, in 2008. Its central idea is that humanitarian emergencies often remain unresolved after television coverage and public attention have moved elsewhere. The organization therefore combines awareness campaigns, media projects, fundraising, and partnerships with local or specialist organizations to maintain attention on communities affected by natural disasters, armed conflict, environmental degradation, and other crises. The organization grew out of work by Hunter Payne and Andrea Herz Payne following the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The disaster killed approximately 230,000 people across a dozen countries and destroyed the livelihoods of millions. The Paynes developed a music compilation featuring contributions from internationally known performers, with proceeds directed toward recovery initiatives. The project was endorsed by the office of former U.S. president Bill Clinton in his role as United Nations special envoy for tsunami relief and became the basis for the Aid Still Required concept. ASR’s early work in Southeast Asia included support for projects in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. In Aceh, Indonesia, proceeds from the compilation supported Yayasan Lamjabat’s Ujung Pancu Project, which combined job training with reforestation, seaweed cultivation, organic farming, fish farming, conservation, disaster preparedness, and programs addressing the rights of women, children, and older people. In Sri Lanka, ASR identified the Community Tsunami Early Warning Center in Peraliya as a project requiring support. The center’s approach combined public-address systems, community education, local knowledge, and preparedness planning. Peraliya had suffered extensive destruction during the tsunami, including the loss of a large number of people in the Queen of the Seas train disaster. The organization also developed or explored projects connected with Darfur, Hurricane Katrina recovery, Gulf Coast wetlands, and other humanitarian or environmental issues. For Darfur, ASR worked with Christie Communications on the Village Reforestation and Advancement Initiative, which sought to use reforestation, traditional farming methods, and irrigation to combat desertification and restore village self-sufficiency. Security conditions prevented or complicated implementation of a pilot in Darfur. In the Gulf Coast, the group examined wetlands restoration and proposed sustainable, flood-resilient housing concepts in New Orleans, including floating townhouse designs. These initiatives reflected ASR’s preference for projects that address both immediate humanitarian needs and longer-term resilience. Awareness-building has been a major part of the brand. Before formal incorporation, the Paynes helped develop a campaign involving professional basketball players and other public figures to draw attention to the Darfur crisis. In 2008, the campaign was connected with Participant Media’s documentary Darfur Now. Participants included NBA players, actors, athletes, and humanitarian advocates. A public-service announcement featuring Kobe Bryant helped launch ASR’s website and brought the organization’s work to a broad sports and entertainment audience. ASR later hosted a Darfur-related roundtable for entertainment and nonprofit communities, co-hosted by Derek Fisher and Don Cheadle, with humanitarian specialists including John Prendergast and Omer Ismail. ASR also participated in a Universal Declaration of Human Rights awareness campaign beginning in 2009, involving public figures such as the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Morgan Freeman, and others. Additional collaborations included a Mother's Day campaign associated with Hans Zimmer, the Remote Control Foundation, and singer Rachel Eskenazi-Gold. The organization’s work has consequently occupied a hybrid space between nonprofit advocacy, cause-related entertainment, disaster recovery, environmental resilience, and public education. Publicly available reference material describes planned or prospective work in Thailand, Appalachia, New York City first responders, Haiti, and the Gulf Oil spill response, but does not establish the current scale or operating status of each initiative. ASR should therefore be understood primarily as a humanitarian advocacy and project-support organization rather than as a conventional consumer brand. Its name functions as a reminder that the end of news coverage does not mean the end of a crisis.

Aid Still Required emerged from humanitarian work undertaken after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Hunter Payne and Andrea Herz Payne sought to address the gap between the intense public response immediately following a disaster and the long recovery period that follows after news organizations leave. Their first major project was a music compilation whose proceeds supported tsunami-recovery work and whose creation involved a broad group of established musicians. The project received support from the office associated with Bill Clinton’s United Nations tsunami-relief role and helped establish the organization’s name and mission. Aid Still Required was incorporated as a nonprofit in Santa Monica, California, in 2008. Its early Southeast Asian focus included projects in Aceh, Indonesia, and Peraliya, Sri Lanka. In Aceh, ASR directed attention and funds toward the Ujung Pancu Project, a locally oriented initiative combining employment training, environmental restoration, sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, conservation, and disaster preparedness. In Sri Lanka, the organization supported the concept of a community tsunami warning center. The Peraliya center used public communication equipment and community education while also seeking to preserve local knowledge about warning signs and emergency response. ASR subsequently expanded its issue portfolio. Its Darfur work emphasized awareness as well as possible environmental and agricultural intervention. In cooperation with Christie Communications, the Village Reforestation and Advancement Initiative proposed forest breaks, soil regeneration, irrigation, and traditional agricultural methods to counter desertification and help restore local self-sufficiency. Violence and insecurity around the 2010 Sudanese elections made implementation of a Darfur pilot difficult, and the available reference material describes the initiative as exploratory rather than as a completed large-scale program. The organization’s public profile grew through collaborations with the sports, entertainment, and media sectors. The Darfur campaign developed from the Paynes’ outreach to NBA players and was later connected with Participant Media’s film Darfur Now. The campaign involved players including Steve Nash, Baron Davis, Ira Newble, Eric Snow, Matt Barnes, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton, and others, as well as actors and humanitarian advocates. A 2008 roundtable brought entertainment and nonprofit representatives together to discuss Darfur advocacy. ASR also pursued humanitarian and environmental work in the United States. In response to Hurricane Katrina and the continuing vulnerability of New Orleans, it examined Gulf Coast wetlands restoration and concepts for sustainable, flood-resistant housing. The wetlands proposals recognized the protective role of coastal marshes and the damage caused by dredging and navigation infrastructure. The floating-townhouse concept was presented as an attempt to reduce the vulnerability of homes whose foundations had been destroyed by flooding. The organization also identified prospective work involving first responders in New York City, Appalachia, Haiti, Thailand, and the Gulf Oil spill. Beginning in 2009, Aid Still Required participated in an awareness campaign connected to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It later collaborated with Hans Zimmer, the Remote Control Foundation, Rachel Eskenazi-Gold, and other public figures on a Mother's Day campaign titled Save an Angel. Across these activities, the organization maintained a consistent model: use recognizable cultural figures and media to renew public attention, then direct that attention toward local partners, recovery projects, preparedness, or structural environmental needs. The available sources provide limited evidence about ASR’s current staffing, finances, website, or active programs. Its historical record nevertheless identifies it as a nonprofit brand built around post-crisis persistence: aid is still required after an emergency disappears from headlines.

• 2010

  Darfur reforestation initiative remains exploratory

  [1]Aid Still Requireden.wikipedia.org

  Security conditions surrounding Sudanese elections complicate plans to pilot the Village Reforestation and Advancement Initiative in Darfur.

• 2009

  Universal Declaration of Human Rights campaign

  [1]Aid Still Requireden.wikipedia.org

  ASR begins a public-awareness initiative involving religious leaders, entertainers, athletes, and activists.

• 2008

  Aid Still Required incorporated

  [1]Aid Still Requireden.wikipedia.org

  The organization is incorporated as a nonprofit in Santa Monica, California.

• 2008

  Darfur Now public-service campaign

  [1]Aid Still Requireden.wikipedia.org

  ASR works with Participant Media and public figures to build awareness of the Darfur crisis.

• 2004

  Indian Ocean tsunami inspires first project

  [1]Aid Still Requireden.wikipedia.org

  The tsunami in Southeast Asia becomes the impetus for the Paynes’ first humanitarian media and fundraising project.

A humanitarian advocacy and project-support nonprofit focused on keeping underreported crises visible and connecting public awareness with local recovery, preparedness, environmental restoration, and sustainable-development initiatives.

• Music compilation and fundraising product

  Aid Still Required tsunami-relief music compilation

  A charity compilation created after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It brought together recordings associated with artists including Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Avril Lavigne, James Taylor, Sarah McLachlan, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Maroon 5, Ray Charles, and others. Proceeds supported recovery and sustainable-livelihood work, including the Ujung Pancu Project in Aceh.

• Documentary film

  The Third Wave

  A documentary associated with the humanitarian response in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. The film focuses on volunteers and the creation of relief, medical, and community-warning initiatives in Peraliya, including the Community Tsunami Early Warning Center.

• Advocacy media campaign · 2008

  Darfur Now public-service campaign

  A campaign developed with Participant Media and a large group of athletes, actors, and activists to keep the Darfur crisis visible. The campaign used televised and online public-service announcements, including a prominent spot associated with Kobe Bryant.

• 2009Universal Declaration of Human Rights Campaign

  United States

  ASR requested participation from international religious leaders, entertainers, athletes, and activists to promote awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

  Outcome. The campaign broadened ASR’s advocacy beyond disaster response into general human-rights education; a quantified result is not available.

  Source
• 2008Darfur Now PSA Campaign

  United States

  ASR collaborated with Participant Media to recruit athletes, actors, and humanitarian advocates for public-service announcements concerning Darfur. The campaign used the reach of professional basketball and entertainment media to connect a mass audience with the crisis.

  Outcome. The campaign increased public visibility for ASR and its Darfur advocacy, although the available source does not quantify its audience or fundraising results.

  Source
• 2008Darfur Now Roundtable

  United States

  ASR hosted a discussion for the entertainment and nonprofit communities, with Derek Fisher and Don Cheadle as co-hosts and speakers including John Prendergast and Omer Ismail.

  Outcome. The event provided a forum for advocacy and collaboration around Darfur; no measurable outcome is reported in the reference material.

  Source
• Save an Angel Mother's Day Campaign

  United States

  A collaboration involving Hans Zimmer, the Remote Control Foundation, teenage singer Rachel Eskenazi-Gold, and other contributors used music and public-service messaging for a humanitarian awareness initiative.

  Source

• 2008

  Adopt a media-led humanitarian advocacy modelStrategy

  Background

  The organization was created around the observation that crises lose public attention before recovery and reconstruction are complete.

  Action taken

  ASR combined celebrity campaigns, music, documentary work, public-service announcements, and partnerships with local organizations rather than limiting its activities to direct relief.

  Aftermath

  This model shaped its Darfur campaigns and later human-rights, disaster-preparedness, and environmental-restoration initiatives.

  Source

• Prioritize longer-term resilience projectsStrategy

  Background

  Post-disaster communities faced loss of livelihoods, environmental degradation, and inadequate warning or preparedness systems.

  Action taken

  ASR supported or explored projects involving reforestation, sustainable agriculture, early-warning systems, coastal wetlands, and flood-resilient housing.

  Aftermath

  The available material documents project proposals and partnerships but does not establish the current implementation status of every initiative.

  Source

1. 1Aid Still Requireden.wikipedia.org