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These individuals describe themselves as the "salvage squad". Following their sudden termination when overseas aid was slashed in the past months, a group of dedicated workers decided to establish their own support program.

Refusing to "remain in despair", an ex-staffer, along with equally dedicated ex-colleagues, initiated efforts to save some of the essential programmes that faced closure after the cuts.

At present, nearly eighty initiatives have been rescued by a facilitation effort managed by the economist and additional ex- agency employees, which has secured them in excess of $110 million in fresh financial support. The group behind the resource optimization project effort estimates it will help millions of people, encompassing many young kids.

Following the agency closure, funds were halted, a large workforce was let go, and global initiatives either stopped abruptly or were struggling toward what the leader calls "drop-dead dates".

He and a few co-workers were reached out to by a charitable entity that "aimed to determine how they could optimize the utilization of their constrained funds".

They built a selection from the cancelled projects, selecting those "offering the most critical assistance per dollar" and where a new funder could feasibly intervene and maintain operations.

They soon recognized the demand was wider than that original foundation and commenced to approach additional possible supporters.

"We dubbed ourselves the lifeboat crew at the start," says the economist. "The vessel has been collapsing, and there are insufficient rescue vessels for every project to get on, and so we're attempting to literally rescue as many infants as we can, secure spots for these rescue options as attainable, via the projects that are providing support."

The project, now working as part of a research organization, has obtained financial support for numerous programmes on its selection in over thirty regions. A few have had prior support returned. A number were could not be preserved in time.

Backing has been provided by a mix of non-profit entities and affluent donors. Most choose to be unidentified.

"The supporters come from diverse backgrounds and opinions, but the shared sentiment that we've encountered from them is, 'People are horrified by what's going on. I really want to figure out a way to step in,'" explains Rosenbaum.

"In my view that there was an 'aha moment' for everyone involved as we began operating on this, that this opened up an possibility to pivot from the ice-cream on the couch, wallowing in the gloom of everything that was happening around us, to having a meaningful task to really sink our teeth into."

A specific initiative that has secured funding through Pro is activities by the Alima to provide services such as nutritional rehabilitation, maternal health care and essential immunizations for kids in Mali.

It is essential to continue these initiatives, says Rosenbaum, not only because resuming activities if they ceased would be hugely expensive but also because of how much trust would be eroded in the war-torn regions if the alliance withdrew.

"They shared […] 'there is fear that if we walk away, we may never be invited back.'"

Projects with longer-term goals, such as strengthening health systems, or in different sectors such as schooling, have remained outside the initiative's scope. It also does not seek to preserve programmes forever but to "create a window for the organizations and, truthfully, the larger network, to figure out a sustainable answer".

Having found support for each programme on its original roster, the initiative announces it will now prioritize helping additional individuals with "tested, efficient solutions".