Saving lives of our precious relatives in Gaza
Donation protected
I am raising money on behalf of my dear friend who is a Palestinian born in Gaza and living in the US whose entire family is still in Gaza. He needs to keep his name and his family’s names private at this time to protect their safety. Here is what he writes about their need for support:
“I am making this urgent request for donations to support my family who live in Gaza, which is currently under bombardment by Israeli forces. I am asking for your help for funds to support their basic needs and their evacuation plan. As you know the situation is worsening by the minute, and the chances for survival are slim.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) just expedited and approved the petition for my mother, father, and brother to be eligible to apply for Green Cards to live in the US. However, first they need to safely evacuate from Gaza via the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
My next step, if my family can get out, is to secure a safe place in Egypt to wait for their visa processing, and be reunited with me in the US afterward. This is gonna cost me so much, and as a working-class person I can’t do it alone. I embarked on this journey to save my parents’ lives and do whatever it takes to secure their safety from within the most live-streamed genocide in human history.
After 143 days of assisting by myself, I can’t do it alone so I am seeking collective assistance. All of the funds collected through this fundraiser will be used for:
- Medication and healthcare that my family urgently needs to survive. My mother needs medications for hypertension, kidney stones, and other illnesses; my father needs medications for COPD and heart complications. Also, four of my sister’s children got Hepatitis C. (Cost: around 500 Shekels= $138 USD per medication per month. )
- Food. (right now it is difficult to secure and also extremely expensive to purchase, for example, 1 kilogram of flour is around 600 Shekels = $165 USD )
- Evacuation and travel costs to support family members who secure permits to evacuate Gaza (Cost: thousands of dollars per person to get from Gaza to Egypt, plus additional costs for lodging and expenses afterward. )
Before doing these steps, I had to take care of more than 300 people from both my family and my spouse's family in the Gaza strip. I can’t continue doing so without your support to keep them at least half-nourished and able to survive.
While the State Department’s approval of petitions for some of my family members is an important step, there is no way to know if they will be granted permission to evacuate to Egypt. If not, the funds raised will go towards food, clean water, and other basic necessities for life, not only for my family, but also for others.
As you have seen, the images of Gaza are unfathomable and unbearable. I feel it is my moral imperative to do anything to save their precious lives from hunger and dehydration. By helping my parents, siblings and those of my spouse, I can at least make a difference for a portion of my extended family.
Your support will help me to:
- Save the lives of my parents and brother.
- Help them travel to Rafah and evacuate to Egypt
- Help my spouse’s family to evacuate to Egypt.
- Secure a safe place for them and their children in Egypt.
- Assisting my parents in the visa processing.
- Save as many lives as possible by providing resources for food, medicine, and other necessities.
I ask Mother Earth, Father Sky, Grandmother Moon, and Grandfather Sun to help my family.
Thank you.”
Organizer and beneficiary
Owen Berson
Organizer
Somerville, MA
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Beneficiary