Sahro Mohamed Mumin, 30, looks at her son Abdulrahman Mahamud, 2, who was diagnosed with pneumonia and severe malnutrition, at a government run health clinic on February 25, 2017 in Shada, Somalia. Mumin’s family lost all of their animals due to drought and had traveled 150 kilometers in search of a better situation. Somalia is currently on the brink of famine with over half of the country’s population facing acute food insecurity according to the United Nations. The intensifying crisis has humanitarian groups racing to stop a repeat of 2011, in which 260,000 people died of famine throughout country. (Credit: Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images)
Actor Ben Stiller, the NFL’s Colin Kaepernick and social media stars including CNN’s Casey Neistat and Jérôme Jarre of Vine and Snapchat fame have helped raise $1 million in just 19 hours to help those facing starvation in Somalia, they announced.
“This is the story of what can happen when the power of social media is leveraged for something good,” Neistat explains in a YouTube video that documents the extraordinary sequence of events that led to the fund-raising juggernaut.
It all began, Neistat explains, when French Vine and Snapchat star Jérôme Jarre, citing the plight of the East African country, recorded a message on Twitter in which he pleaded with Turkish Airlines to fill one of its flights with food and provisions. Drought-stricken Somalia is facing a catastrophic hunger crisis, with more than 6 million people — more than half the population — in need of food assistance.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA WON'T TALK ABOUT IT !!!
REVOLTING !!!
LET'S MAKE NOISE !!!#TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia
— JÉRÔME JARRE (@jeromejarre) March 15, 2017
The tweet went viral, with fellow social media stars Neistat and Juanpa Zurita, among others. After hearing from Jarre, Stiller recorded his own message urging Turkish Airlines to take action. Kaepernick, along with a host of social media stars, followed suit.
If you have 2 minutes and 20 seconds check this out. #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia pic.twitter.com/r0u3xh5spG
— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) March 15, 2017
Via @kaepernick7: Mainstream media is not covering this! Make a video in your own language and help us get… https://t.co/FgtWPt439u pic.twitter.com/VvYmbcGPDM
— KnowYourRightsCamp (@yourrightscamp) March 15, 2017
After just a couple of hours, Turkish Airlines responded by pledging to make available a full cargo flight with room for 60 tons of food. The airline also said it would allow the group to ship food containers on its commercial aircraft to Somalia until the country’s hunger crisis has ended.
Ready for take off to help Somalia ❤ ✈ @jeromejarre @redhourben @chakabars @eljuanpazurita #LoveArmyForSomalia #TurkishAirlines4Somalia pic.twitter.com/srVkpDYi09
— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) March 17, 2017
Once the plane had been secured, the group launched a GoFundMe page, Love Army for Somalia, to solicit donations. They hoped to raise $1 million in 10 days. Just 19 hours after the page went live, the goal had been met. And the cash continues to flood in from around the world.
Donations also are being collected through Stiller’s charity, The Stiller Foundation, and the American Refugee Committee will coordinate food distribution on the ground, the group explained in a statement on the page.
The first Turkish Airlines flight is due to take off in 10 days carrying rice, flour and cooking oil, among other basic provisions, the GoFundMe page states.
“We’ve proved how much our power doesn’t mean much individually, but has the potential to move mountains (AIRPLANES!!!) when we UNITE!” the group wrote. “We’re committed to making sure Somalia has the relief they need.”
