In light of Paul Walker’s recent death, Direct Relief is spotlighting the extraordinary work of his organization, Reach Out WorldWide (ROWW). While many knew him as the star of The Fast and the Furious movie series, Direct Relief was fortunate to know him as the founder of one of our emergency response partners working to help people in need.

Our team became familiar with Paul Walker shortly after he founded ROWW,  following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. ROWW is a network of professionals with first-responder skill sets who provide their expertise in post-disaster situations to help accelerate relief efforts.

Direct Relief supports ROWW’s licensed medical responders with medicines and supplies such as wound care, antibiotics, infection control, diagnostics, and other equipment needed to meet a variety of disaster-related health needs. Most recently we equipped a ROWW responder headed to the Philippines with critical care supplies to help people affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

His passion for supporting first-responders on the frontlines, sending these citizen volunteers to areas of high need was obvious.

Sadly, Walker had just left a ROWW benefit supporting survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines when he and his business partner were killed after their vehicle hit a tree, as reported in the New York Daily News.

Our best tribute to Paul is to keep pushing forward with the ongoing work and to continue to support ROWW responders with the tools they need to fulfill his organization’s mission.