Lindsey Branson - Zakat Foundation
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Yesterday, the second day authorities permitted humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, Zakat Foundation of America delivered and served 5,000 hot meals, each with bottled drinking water, to hungry, thirsty displaced Palestinian families sheltering in six UN schools throughout the besieged, embattled strip, with a pledge to provide “1 Million Hot Meals for Gaza” with bottled water.
A $5 donation covers the cost of one hot meal, with bottled water, and distribution.
“We consider it a blessing from God that our relief teams in Gaza were able to translate our donors’ humanitarian contributions into these hot meals and clean drinking water and deliver them to the suffering people of Gaza who have been without housing, food, water, and definitely the option of a hot meal for going on three weeks,” said Mr. Halil Demir, Zakat Foundation’s executive director and founder.
“Now is the time for us to focus on humanity, to help those most in need,” he said.
A reported 5,087 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including a heart-rending 2,055 children and 1,119 women. Totally deprived of food, water, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies, the people of Gaza’s life resources have dwindled literally to nearly nothing, with a staggering million-plus displaced from their homes and utterly dispossessed, completely dependent now on outside humanitarian aid making its way to them.
“It is no exaggeration to say that 2.3 million lives in Gaza hang in the humanitarian relief balance,” said Demir. “That’s what our ‘1 Million Hot Meals for Gaza’ campaign is all about. If the world does not reach Gaza’s people with all these life-sustaining resources, it will mean massive death in Gaza.”
The global humanitarian charity intends to continue delivering daily hot meals and drinking water to displaced families sheltering in UN schools and plans to expand its food aid program. We welcome all Palestinian families in Gaza to receive available hot meal distributions, Demir said, who has relief teams on hand to serve the hot meals and help reach those most in need.
Zakat Foundation posts photos and videos of the food distributions on its website and through social media as they become available.
A Charity Navigator four-star ranked humanitarian organization, Zakat Foundation has stocked both emergency short-term and long-term aid for the Palestinians of Gaza and has also staged truckloads of hygiene kits, medical supplies, tents with ground mats, warm winter clothing, and blankets near Egypt’s Rafah crossing and at the Jordanian border. The agency takes no administrative fees from its emergency relief donations, 100 percent of this funding going directly to aiding and assisting recipients.
Having worked in Gaza since 2002, Zakat Foundation has developed reliable contacts with local vendors, aid partners, and distributors.
In addition, Zakat Foundation has had an ongoing housing rebuilding and repair program for Gaza families in cooperation with the UN since 2014.
Donate to the “1 Million Meals for Gaza” here: https://www.zakat.org/1million-meals-gaza
Founded in 2001, Zakat Foundation of America is a 501(c)3 NGO that helps generous and caring people reach out to those in need. Zakat Foundation’s mission is to address immediate needs and ensure the self-reliance of the poorest people around the world. Zakat Foundation conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 50 countries on five continents. Media and interview requests can be sumbitted to lindsey.b@zakat.org. For more information, please visit http://www.ZAKAT.org or call 1-888-ZAKAT.
