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They refer to themselves as the "salvage squad". Following being let go when foreign assistance was slashed earlier this year, a collective of committed staff decided to create their own emergency initiative.

Refusing to "wallow in misery", a former economist, along with like-minded ex-colleagues, began actions to rescue some of the essential programmes that faced closure after the funding decreases.

Now, close to 80 initiatives have been rescued by a connector platform managed by the economist and fellow past aid staff, which has found them more than $110 million in fresh financial support. The group behind the resource optimization project effort calculates it will help forty million people, covering many young kids.

Following the termination of operations, spending was frozen, thousands of employees were laid off, and projects worldwide either ended suddenly or were left limping toward what Rosenbaum terms "final deadlines".

Rosenbaum and a few co-workers were approached by a philanthropic organization that "aimed to figure out how they could make the best use of their finite budgets".

They built a selection from the terminated programmes, identifying those "offering the most vital support per dollar" and where a alternative supporter could realistically get involved and maintain operations.

They quickly understood the demand was more extensive than that first entity and started to approach additional possible supporters.

"We dubbed ourselves the rescue team at the outset," explains the economist. "The organization has been collapsing, and there aren't enough rescue vessels for each programme to get on, and so we're attempting to actually save as many young children as we can, get as many on to these support channels as possible, via the programmes that are offering assistance."

The initiative, now working as part of a research organization, has garnered backing for numerous programmes on its selection in in excess of 30 countries. Several have had initial backing returned. Several others were unable to be rescued in time.

Funding has originated from a blend of charitable organizations and private benefactors. Many wish to remain anonymous.

"These donors come from varied motivations and viewpoints, but the common thread that we've encountered from them is, 'I am shocked by what's unfolding. I truly desire to discover an approach to step in,'" notes the economist.

"I think that there was an 'lightbulb moment' for all of us as we began operating on this, that this provided an opportunity to shift from the passive sadness, remaining in the gloom of everything that was unfolding around us, to having something productive to really sink our teeth into."

An example programme that has found funding through the initiative is work by the the medical alliance to offer support including nutritional rehabilitation, maternity services and crucial pediatric vaccinations in the country.

It is essential to keep such programmes going, explains Rosenbaum, not only because resuming activities if they stopped would be extremely costly but also because of how much confidence would be eroded in the war-torn regions if the organization withdrew.

"They shared […] 'we are concerned that if we walk away, we may lose our place.'"

Programmes with future-focused aims, such as strengthening health systems, or in different sectors such as learning, have been excluded from Pro's work. It also is not trying to save the projects indefinitely but to "buy time for the groups and, truthfully, the wider community, to figure out a longer-term solution".

Now that they have obtained support for each programme on its initial list, the team says it will now focus on helping more people with "proven, cost-effective interventions".