Tangible aid, focused advocacy — help do more

The call came after Ramadan in June.  Amira, a trusted adviser who runs the corner store on the outskirts of Rafah Gaza, called Rebuilding Alliance’s partner NGO about a starving family with eight children, the dad with no job, and a pregnant mom. Rebuilding Alliance’s Rafah coordinator, Kareem Nasrallah, took a basket of food to the family. There he saw infection and malnutrition in dark circles under their eyes, and a brown trickle as their water supply in a barely livable shelter.

Besides food and medicine, they needed a way to get back on their feet. And we met the challenge.

Rebuilding Alliance opened our Gaza Emergency Relief Fund, and we reconstructed the family’s home to add a new roof, running water, electricity, kitchen, bathroom, stove, refrigerator, and washing machine, a goat with kids for milk and cheese, plus chickens for eggs. Here’s a short video: https://bit.ly/2MuObkr 

So many families are in need in Gaza. Collapse of the economy means desperation and malnutrition. Our experience bringing solar lights taught us how to deliver food, clothing, blankets, and tarps via vouchers, in full compliance with U.S. law, and so now Rebuilding Alliance has extended our program to do more. 

But aid isn’t enough — advocacy is critical. We brought the children from Palestine to speak to Congress in their #ICareAboutPeace briefing in February. The child from Gaza, Lama, burst into tears in our meeting with a Senator’s foreign policy staff when he told her there was nothing the Senator could do to restore humanitarian aid to Gaza. So Rebuilding Alliance decided to do more — as we expanded aid, we also expanded our advocacy to ask members of Congress to intervene for Palestinian rights in specific ways.

We brought two more speaking tours to Washington, each with more access than before. When we brought speakers from Jerusalem to DC in October, 360 Congressional offices asked to meet us!

Please give generously to help Rebuilding Alliance respond to great need, family by family, and to help us expand constituent engagement to press Congress to intervene, case by case.  Restorative aid helps families recover. Calls from Congress keep Palestinian villages standing, and get students and speakers out of Gaza. Please help us do more.

Sincerely,

Donna Baranski-Walker
Founder and Executive Director