In early September 2021, the Center for Inquiry (CFI) announced an initiative to respond to the humanitarian catastrophe that was unfolding in Afghanistan: the Afghan Rescue Fund. Coordinating with David Cowan, a CFI board member and producer of the documentary film Afghan Dreamers, CFI asked the secular and skeptic communities to help with the safe relocation of Afghan families endangered by the collapse of the government and the oppression of a theocratic regime.