Support Gaza with vital water, food & living essentials
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Giving4gaza is a grassroots mutual aid collective started up amongst two friends, one in Gaza and one in the UK with the aim of supporting the community in Gaza with living essentials such as water, food, baby supplies and clothing. You can find out about the initiatives we’ve worked on so far on Instagram: giving4gaza .
Currently, we are aiming to raise a total of $133,550 (£104,843) For the following initiatives:
Fresh food distribution for 100 families - $4,700
Supplies for 100 babies - $2,700
Clothes for 100 children - $5,300
School equipment for 220 children to learn plus support for 5 x teachers at $200 each for their educational work - $10,000 & $1,000 for teachers
200 blankets for families - $10,800
Waterproof nylon tent covers for 50 families - $20,000
Glasses for 50 people - $5,000
Dental X-Ray device for medical assessments - $25,000
Wages for 4 support team members in Gaza at $1,400 per person for all initiative work to be carried out - $5,600
Wages for our main team member plus backdating for his work on past previous initiatives - $2,800
Initiatives Total - $105,650
GoFundMe fees 2.9% + £0.25 - $3,600
Bank commission fees at 23% to receive cash in Gaza - $24,300
Total to raise - $133,550 (£104,843)
Future Initiatives:
Water well - $17,325
Monthly fresh food distribution (for 6 months) for 100 families - $28,200
Tents for 50 families - $40,000 (waiting for them to be available)
The Team and Operations:
We are currently a team of three friends, two based in England: Leannah and Alice running the page and working on fundraising and one in Gaza doing the groundwork, with the support of family and friends.
The two of us in the UK were brought together through our growing friendship with our team member in Gaza, who we each met online through Instagram in October and November 2023. Initially Leannah sent personal funds to our team member's family, before deciding between them to try and provide mutual aid to more families in Gaza. Leannah went on to do a Christmas fundraiser with friends and family, and in January 2024 set up an Instagram and crowdfunding page to reach more people. In January Alice joined the team to support with campaigning and fundraising.
We have been continuously coming up with new ways of increasing the funds available to support people in dire need, but frustratingly the funds are never enough to meet the needs of the people.
With your support we will be able to bring a continuous drinking water supply to 800 people per day, food to 100 families of 7 people every month, milk and pampers to 100 babies, essential clothes to 100 children, vital tents for 50 families, waterproof tent covers for 50 families, and provide glasses to 50 people who would otherwise struggle to see. This totals: providing 4,200 people with essential fresh food, 100 children and babies with the vital essentials of food, clothing and glasses, plus 800 per day with a regular water supply as well as supplying 50 high-quality tents and 50 waterproof tent covers for families of 10 people.
Our team member on the ground has direct contact with food suppliers and merchants, purchasing products locally from within Gaza. Funds are sent straight from England and collected in cash, then used to make purchases to distribute to the community.
We always decide on each fundraising goal in advance, based on the needs of the people our team member in Gaza has outlined are most important at the time. At the time of purchasing goods for each initiative we carry out, he makes the decisions based on what is available at the time, within a market where prices fluctuate regularly. We are always guided by our team member on the ground when deciding what the community needs.
Through this fundraiser, we are looking to support our team member, his family, and others who are recruited to help deliver the aid as we scale up our project.
Past Initiatives:
Our first initiative in February was distributing 5,000L of drinking water to the community, as well as distributing food parcels to 50 families (a total of 300+ people).
During Ramadan we distributed fresh bread to over 100 people and care packages of formula milk, baby food, pampers and blankets to 50 families.
In May we distributed an additional 5,000L of water, as well as replaced some solar panels on a partly existing water well, to provide a continuous supply of water for families in an area in Central Gaza with a high density of people. This water well is currently providing fresh water to
300+ people per day!
Current & Future Initiatives:
- Our team member on the ground has paid a deposit for the installation of solar panels to get a water well up and running so that the community can access water immediately. Each solar panel costs $1,300 and 8 are needed to run a well continuously. This water well had some existing solar panels to start with, so we only now have to raise a further $2,000 to provide a consistent and sustainable source of water, providing water security for many families.
- This water well is now complete!
- We would like to provide eye tests and have glasses made for those who have either lost or had their glasses broken during the many bombings and continuous displacements. A sometimes overlooked necessity for those needing glasses to see clearly, we would like to provide 50 people with glasses. To see an eye doctor and have a pair of glasses supplied this will cost up to $100 per person. This initiative would total £5,000. We have completed this initiative costing a total of $4,700.
- There is another location in an area with many displacement tents where another water well can be set up. This would need 8 x solar panels, a power converter and battery. With each panel coming to $1,600 plus one inverter at $3200 and one battery at $1,325. The total for this well initiative comes to around $17,325 depending on the prices from the supplier at the time of buying them. This second location would provide fresh water to 500+ people per day! We aim to gather funds for this initiative to take place after Winter as we are now prioritising Winter essentials.
- We would like to provide food parcels with fresh vegetables, containing food such as: potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, onions, peppers and fresh greens. This food parcel would be enough to feed a family of 7 people and would cost approximately $50 with the prices varying daily. Our goal is to supply food parcels for 100 families which would cost $5,000. We completed the first distribution of 100 fresh food parcels during the week beginning 9th September 2024. The total came to $4,700 and supported 700+ people. Our team has suggested doing this monthly would be most beneficial as nutritional deficiencies are high within the community.
The Giving4gaza team putting together 100 fresh food parcels including: potatoes, aubergines, onions, tomatoes, herbs, limes and fresh greens.
The Team distributing the fresh food parcels to 100 families, supporting over 700 people in total.
- We would like to distribute vital supplies such as milk and baby nappies to families that need it. The price for nappies and milk fluctuates daily, but to provide these supplies for 100 babies this would cost around $2700.
- We would like to distribute & build tents for families that don’t have them and need them most. The high-quality, portable and reusable tents are sold for $800 each. These are crucial as the cheaper tents are smaller and lack privacy, and don't protect families from the rain. We are aiming to buy 50 tents that can fit around 10 family members for a total of $40,000. Tents aren't readily available currently but the team managed to buy one at the market for a family that needed it on 26th September 2024.
- As tents aren't available currently, we are in the process of providing waterproof tent covers as well as building make-shift tent structures to give families cover from the rain. We would like to provide waterproof tent covers for 50 families, each tent needs around 3 covers each costing $135. The total per family tent is $400 plus ground cover for $100. To support 50 families with water proofing this comes to - $25,000.
We have so far supported one family with building a water proof cover as they didn't have a tent, but had a wooden structure available on October 15th 2024.
- We were able to distribute 50 waterproof covers to families on 24th October 2024.
- We would like to distribute children's Winter clothes to 100 children. A full outfit, a top, bottoms and a pair of shoes costs around $30 per child, totaling $3000. We completed this initiative on 3rd October supplying winter pajamas and coats which are very expensive so many families can't afford them, plus hats and scarves. The total came to $5,300 for 100 children.
- As winter approaches families are in great need of warm blankets as the nights are bitterly cold. We would like to provide 200 blankets to families to give some protection against the winter temperatures. Each blanket costs $54. We were able to complete this initiative on 4th November 2024. The cost of this came to $10,800.
- We would like to support the funding of a children's dental clinic. This children's dental centre will provide for the entire middle area of Gaza, identifying dental problems and offering the necessary treatment. Providing vital dental equipment for this centre will enable around 50 children to access urgent dental care every day. We are currently working towards this initiative and are waiting for a licence to be approved so we can start the work of building this facility.
- To compensate for the hard, dangerous work they are doing, our team member and five support members of the community who will contribute in delivering these initiatives will be financially supported to help them sustain themselves and their families. They will each receive $100 per day of work. Although above average, we deem this appropriate with the very inflated prices of necessities in Gaza. For all of the outlined initiatives spanning at least 14 days in total this comes to $1,400 per person for the five people, and $2,800 for our main team member to compensate for his dangerous and tireless work on the previous initiatives. The total support for all six people is $9,800.
Giving4Gaza is a grassroots mutual aid collective for the Gaza Strip that to this day has supported 14,000+ people with essential food parcels of both canned and fresh food plus fresh bread, over 50+ babies with nappies and milk formula, 100 children with vital winter clothes, and 300+ people daily are using the water well that has been successfully set up and running. Thousands of families need support, let’s keep coming together for our brothers and sisters in Gaza!
Organizer
Leannah Dahn
Organizer
England