How did I start this journey? Two years ago I opened a message on Instagram from a 17 year old in Gaza asking if I could help his family survive. Jihad had just been trampled at an aid site while trying to get food and could no longer work delivering water. As the oldest child in a family of eight, he needed to find another way to support his siblings Badr, Wissam, Dia, Nedal, Zein, as well as his parents, his mom’s sister & her 8 children. A total of 16 people.

So he started reaching out on Instagram to anyone who had spoken out for Palestine, hoping someone might answer. I was the only one who responded.

At first we were both unsure what that even meant or how I could help. But Jihad knew what he needed: someone to help get his story out into the world. So we started sharing it and hoping that if people saw what was happening to his family, they would help me help him support them.

For a little while, that worked. But the truth is people mostly give when something devastating happens and there is something to post. On the regular days — the days when they have no money, when they are just hungry and exhausted — we sit there together trying to figure out what to do next. And I don’t know what to tell them when they ask why people stop giving.

This occupation is brutalizing them. It has taken away their dignity, their ability to work, and their ability to meet their most basic needs without having to beg for every dollar. Every single dollar has to be strategized.

But I cannot carry this alone anymore. If you have ever thought about helping, now is the moment to step in. These families needs consistent support just to eat and survive.

Please donate, message, or email me if you can help with:
1. A one-time donation
2. A monthly donation
3. Helping me fundraise for Jihad and/or another G2G family

All funds raised through Give to Gaza Families are sent directly to families and used for clearly communicated, survival-related needs, or sometimes just candy or a lavish meal- and that’s OK. As their friends, I encourage them to do this. This effort is entirely volunteer-run. I do not take salaries, fees, or personal compensation from donations.

Give to Gaza Families is a grassroots, volunteer-run mutual aid effort based in Philadelphia. I am one individual doing this work because I cannot stand by and watch these families starve or die without help. I am in direct, daily contact with them, and I personally raise funds to help them access the most basic necessities — especially food. Without this support, they simply do not have enough to survive.

My goal is stability.

Families in Gaza are living under extreme and constant stress. Each day requires making impossible decisions—how to secure food, access medicine, protect children, and navigate uncertainty—while conditions change without warning. The mental and emotional toll of simply staying alive is immense.

In a good month, my hope is to reduce that burden by providing financial support ahead of time, rather than responding only after emergencies occur. Predictable assistance helps families plan for basic necessities, reduces daily panic around survival, and allows them to focus their energy on getting through the day.

I support a small number of families so I can show up for them consistently. I stay in regular contact, listen carefully, and respond to what families tell me they need most as circumstances shift. This keeps aid personal, flexible, and grounded in real life rather than assumptions.

I work collaboratively with the families I support to decide what, if anything, is shared publicly. Together, we talk through what feels safe, appropriate, and useful to share, and how it should be communicated. Families are never required to expose their trauma in order to receive assistance.

Give to Gaza Families is not affiliated with any government, political party, or armed group. My work is humanitarian and relational: helping civilians access food, medical care, and basic necessities through consistent, person-to-person support during an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

To connect, email givetogazafamilies@gmail.com or follow me on Instagram @givetogazafamilies.