HEALTHY FOOD FOR FAMILIES IN GAZA!

For my birthday this year, I thought I'd do a fundraiser for this wonderful program in Gaza that is helping feed families with serious medical needs. Please note: World Central Kitchen is not servicing this area; the closest WCK station is close to a 2 hour walk (4 hours round trip!) from where D4P is feeding these extremely vulnerable people.

Dignity for Palestinians (D4P) was started by Dr. Musallam Abukhalil, a man I've been in touch with for 10+ years (having first heard about him from a friend when he was still in high school, more than 13 years ago). Prior to October 7, he lived in Nuseirat in central Gaza, but when it was no longer safe there, he fled south to Rafah. He is now back in Nuseirat, having fled when Rafah was no longer a safe haven. In Gaza right now, nowhere is safe.

An excerpt from one of Musallam's emails:

I have been working in and managing a primary care clinic in a makeshift school shelter in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza. I see close to 150 patients everyday including children with malnutrition, pregnant women with poor social support systems, and elderly persons who are unable to care for themselves.

Why are miserable conditions so rampant now? The internally displaced persons—most of whom I serve in my work—have left their homes with nothing at all to cover basic expenses.

My work as a physician wasn’t enough to help, so I created the Dignity for Palestinian campaign (D4P) which has successfully completed +10 small projects that helped hundreds of women, children and elderly.

The families being helped by D4P are generally the families of patients at Musallam's clinic. They are among the most vulnerable people in Gaza: people who are ill and can't go searching for food, elderly people, orphans, widows with children.

Musallam and Dignity for Palestinians had a successful GoFundMe effort, and now they are turning to groups and organizations for financial support to continue their work. But that effort isn't easy , and there is always a lag in time between requesting such funds and possibly receiving them. (As a former grant writer, I know that all too well!) So I thought of this birthday fundraiser as a way to make sure his extraordinary work continues without interruption for as long as possible.

A D4P Facebook post of June 6:

A hot chicken meal is not just a warm, delicious meaty meal. It is something that people that the Dignity for Palestinians Campaign is helping have been craving for many long weeks. Our most recent initiative, held on June 6th, has helped 245 families eat a good meal. Many families can’t afford this meal on their own and for them it is an absolute luxury.

The D4P ground team makes personal visits to the tents to bring food where they live. No one on our beneficiaries list of almost 2,000 families (and counting) has ever needed to travel long distances or pay for what’s rightfully their simple right to healthy, warm meals, hand-delivered to them with love.

FYI: I'll be wiring the funds from my bank to theirs.

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Copy/pasting from his earlier GoFundMe:

The Dignity for Palestinians Campaign is an independent, volunteer-run, and politically unaffiliated Palestinian group which aims to preserve the dignity for Palestinians in Gaza through Health and Wellness.

Our work is based in Alhassiana, a small town in the western part of the Nusierat refugee camp. We mainly serve thousands of Internally Displaced Persons from Gaza City and northern Gaza, who are staying in UNRWA shelters and tent cities that have formed during the genocide.

Our team has successfully carried out many initiatives to advance our mission, with sponsorships from individuals, groups and organizations from around the world.

SOME OF THE PROJECTS TO DATE:

Ramadan Vegetable Baskets:

Thanks to a generous sponsorship by the UK Muslim Charity, Mountain of Mercy, our team distributed 100 vegetable baskets for 100 families housed inside and near Alhassaina School Shelter, in Nusierat refugee camp, Gaza. Our selected patients included cancer patients, chronic kidney disease patients, pregnant women, children with malnutrition, and elderly patients with permanent disability. The Ramadan vegetable baskets were critical assistance that provided a natural, organic food as a source of vital nourishment for the sickest and neediest of our patients during the holy month of Ramadan.

Sanitary Products for Women:

Thanks to a public fundraising campaign organized by our friend, Harriet Churchward, we were been able to secure our first supply of sanitary towels to distribute to women from within the internally displaced people inside the shelter and outside. A single sanitary towel packet costs from around 400 to 600% the regular price before the war. Many women, in addition to being displaced, poor and hungry, can’t purchase these essential health products at this rate. The campaign will preserve the health and dignity of women, considered one of most vulnerable groups as a consequence of this terrible war. Tens of women will now benefit from our initiative at no cost in a close place where they live.

Hot Ramadan Meals:

Our team has held 2 separative initiatives, providing a total of 350 hot chicken and rice to internally displaced families. Each initiative costs approximately $1350 US dollars, and each meal feeds 2-4 people.

Eid al-Fitr Chocolate Bars for Children:

On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the Dignity for Palestinians Campaign has distributed 1,650 chocolate bars to the children of internally displaced people inside and outside Alhassaina shelter, including families who live in tents. It is a small gift for our community group who have suffered the most.

WHAT IT COSTS:

Vegetable Baskets for a Family - $16 USD

$16 will provide a nice vegetable basket that will be enough for a family of 3-6 for several days!

Meals for 200 families- $2,700 USD

$2700 Dollars will allow us to provide hot meals for 150-200 families, helping about 600-800 people!

We will also be continuing to supply sanitary products and other necessities as supplies are available!

About our Team

Musallam Abukhalil, MD

Musallam is a medical doctor from Gaza with years of clinical practice as a hospitalist and emergency room physician. He has been key to fundraising for Dignity for Palestine through his connections across the world and in Palestine. Since the beginning of this horrific war, he has been providing medical care in his capacity as a physician and continuing to support his community.

Abeer Abukhalil

Abeer is the financial and local communications coordinator for Dignity for Palestinians. She has a bachelor's degree in accounting from University of Gaza and works for the Arab Islamic Bank. She is responsible for approving purchase decisions with local suppliers whom she has access to through her extensive contact list she built when she was handling their accounts before the war. She makes long daily calls to organize things, secure our supply line, and manages the team regarding financial oversight and appropriate project documentation. Transparency and accountability are two of our guiding principles in everything we do because we want to honor the trust of our sponsors.

Nasrallah Abukhalil

Nasrallah is a BA student in English Translation at the Islamic University of Gaza. He was an exchange student to the USA in 2016 and has a deep, deep interest in history, poetry and the fantasy genre. Nasrallah is currently acting as a project coordinator overseeing the process of packaging the aid, delivery to people in need, and ensuring that aid gets distributed to the intended beneficiaries.

Aminah Abukhalil

Aminah has a BA in Business administration from Al-Aqsa University. She is a number lover and a photography enthusiast. In addition, she is an avid personal development content consumer. Aminah runs the financial records for every campaign. She is also the team photographer, capturing moments worth sharing.

Our work is not affiliated with UNRWA.