Peanut Labs Pakistan Flood Relief Fundraiser

Online, August 24, 2010 (Newswire.com) - The flood that devastated Pakistan earlier this month was worse than the 2009 earthquake in Haiti, the 2006 Kashmir earthquake, and the 2005 Asian tsunami - combined. Peanut Labs, the only provider of surveys for Facebook Credits on the network and the largest survey providers on the web, is mobilizing its network for an ambitious fundraising effort to alleviate some of the hardships the Pakistani people are facing as a result of this natural disaster. From now until August 31st the company is running a Facebook fundraising campaign to raise $25,000 (and see this amount matched by a donor), and to raise awareness about the lack of international will and media coverage that this tragedy has fostered.

The fundraising initiative was started by Peanut Labs co-founder and CEO Ali Moiz who began with an email campaign targeting his colleagues, partners, vendors and even his competition. Raising $10,000 through this earlier effort, Moiz saw the potential of tapping into Peanut Labs' network and set up the Facebook event "Peanut Labs Pakistan Flood Relief Fundraiser" to reach out to any and all potential donors. His target is $25,000 by August 31st, and any amount up to $25,000 will be matched by an unnamed donor.

The flood has affected about 20 million people in Pakistan - leaving them homeless and often separated from their families - and has killed more than 10,000. Moiz and two of the other three Peanut Lab co-founders, President Murtaza Hussain, Chief Operating Officer Noman Ali, are natives of Karachi, Pakistan, connecting them in an intimate way to the tragedy.

In the first day that the Facebook fundraising event was up, Peanut Labs raised $6,500 - over one quarter of their $25,000 goal. Anyone interested in donating can send money via PayPal to Moiz at [email protected], or SMS smaller donations to one of several aid organizations in a manner similar to the text-based donations during the Haitian earthquake relief.

Peanut Labs is no novice to philanthropy. In response to the earthquake in Haiti, the company donated 10% of its February 2010 profits to earthquake relief efforts.

Thus far, the Pakistan flood has largely been overlooked by the mainstream media, and coverage pales in comparison to the earthquake in Haiti. According to the BBC, the UN and other aid organizations have only been able to raise a fraction of the funds they need to mobilize an effective response. Hopefully, this effort by Peanut Labs will not only raise desperately-needed funds, but also awareness of the plight and spur individuals and organizations to help future efforts.