Real relief, delivered by people who show up.
KIRF is a small, volunteer-run foundation that gets disaster relief, education, and sustainable development support straight to the people who need it, fast and without the overhead.
501(c)(3) nonprofit · Tax ID 27-3431829 · Our volunteers pay their own airfare, so more of every gift reaches the field.
Bihar, India: school supply day
2,000+
20+
10
It started with a tsunami we almost didn’t survive.
In December 2004, Mark and Angela Kirwin were on vacation with their two children in Ranong, a small port town in southern Thailand, when the Andaman Sea tsunami hit. A last-minute change in lodging, and a missed morning boat, meant their family survived a wave that destroyed the resort they’d almost stayed at and sank the boat they’d almost taken.
In the days that followed, they helped injured tourists at the local hospital and assembled relief packages with Thai police and volunteers for survivors who had lost everything. When they got home to Ventura, they couldn’t just go back to normal life.
They founded KIRF in January 2005, held a fundraiser, and Mark returned to Thailand twice that year to fund a fish farm for 30 families who’d lost their boats, and school supplies for children at a coastal primary school. Twenty years later, we’re still doing the same kind of work: showing up, asking what’s needed, and getting it there.
“I was inspired by the tragedy of the 2004 tsunami because we were so lucky to have survived, and there were so many people who needed help.”Mark Kirwin, KIRF Co-Founder
Three ways we help people rebuild.
When a typhoon, earthquake, or flood upends a community, we send volunteers, on their own dime, to work alongside local responders and deliver exactly what’s needed, fast. Nepal, the Philippines, Haiti, Peru, and here at home after Katrina.
Learn more →
We fund school supplies, uniforms, and sewing-center training, and we run a university scholarship fund for children orphaned by the 2004 tsunami, because surviving a disaster shouldn’t mean losing your education too.
Learn more →
We invest beyond emergency response: fishing boats and a fish farm in Thailand, water wells in drought-stricken Bihar, and micro-loan co-ops that help families build lasting independence.
Learn more →Ten countries. One approach.
Ask the people closest to the problem what they actually need, then deliver it efficiently with local partners who know the ground.
Where it started: tsunami relief in Ranong.
Hurricane Katrina relief along the Gulf Coast.
First water wells drilled for drought relief in Bihar.
Earthquake relief near Pisco.
First-phase relief after the earthquake.
Typhoon Haiyan relief on Panay Island.
Earthquake assessment and monsoon-proof roofing.
A small team, twenty years in.
Angela is an anthropologist who studies disaster response and cross-cultural relief, work she started living, not just studying, after the 2004 tsunami. She’s led education and gender-focused development projects in rural Bihar, India, ever since.
“Everyone is important. Anyone can make a real difference for good in the world.”
A native Missourian, Patrick has worked in humanitarian and relief efforts across Latin America since 1996: disaster relief, and educational and economic development in Bolivia, Haiti, Peru, and Mexico.
In memory of KIRF co-founder Mark Kirwin, who turned a single terrible morning in Thailand into two decades of showing up for others.
Every dollar reaches the field.
Give Online
Donate securely through PayPal. No account required, all major cards accepted.
Give by Mail
Make checks payable to “KIRF” or “Kirwin International Relief Foundation.”
KIRF, c/o Kirwin & Francis, LLP
260 Maple Court, Suite 220
Ventura, CA 93003
Other Ways to Give
In-kind gifts, stock and other financial assets, or naming KIRF as a beneficiary in a trust or estate plan.
KIRF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Tax ID 27-3431829. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
What your gift makes possible.
Could help cover a term of school supplies for one child.
Give this amount →Could help stock an emergency relief kit for a family who’s lost their home.
Give this amount →Could help fund a family’s share of a fishing boat as they rebuild their livelihood.
Give this amount →