UPDATE: I'd like to thank everyone who helped me reach my initial goal of $3500 in just a few days. I've raised my goal to $6,000 knowing that there are still lots of people out there who want to help the Palestinian Children Relief Fund, and that every extra dollar makes a difference to children in need.
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In mid September, I will be taking part in the 6th annual Cycling4Gaza event (cycling4gaza.com). This year we will be cycling over 300km from Philadelphia to Washington DC over the course of 3 days. While training for the ride, I am also aiming to raise $3,500 to support the REACH Gaza (Reaching Every Affected Child in Gaza) project through the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund (PCRF). PCRF is a non-political, non-profit organization dedicated to healing the wounds of war, occupation and poverty for children in the Middle East, regardless of their nationality, religion, race or gender. More information about REACH Gaza is below.
REACH Gaza – The 2014 Project Second Year Running
REACH Gaza aims to improve and strengthen the currently underdeveloped health-care system in Gaza, particularly when it comes to providing surgery for children in need of medical care. In addition to causing a chronic shortage of medical equipment and supplies in Gaza, the 6 year long siege on the Gaza Strip has prevented children and their families from travelling freely into the West Bank and abroad in order to receive the urgent care and treatment they need.
The REACH Gaza project will address each of these issues and work towards creating a more durable, efficient and sustainable healthcare system by carrying out the following tasks:
- Identifying every sick and injured child in the besieged Gaza Strip in need of specialised medical care through a team of ground staff who will form an intricate network of field offices throughout Gaza
- Creating a pioneering centralised database that will include each child’s medical condition and history
- Providing each child with the required treatment through sponsoring treatment locally, visiting international volunteer missions and sending children abroad for care.
$250,000 (£150,000) was raised in 2013 in support of the REACH Gaza project. 53% of these funds directly resulted in:
- The treatment of 630 children in Gaza
- Through the work of 18 volunteer international medical teams
- Caring for children in need of cardiac, orthopaedic and general medical treatment
The funds also allowed for the development of the first medical database in Gaza with 496 child cases registered.
The remaining funds from 2013 will be used to continue providing essential medical treatment to the children in Gaza, in addition to all the funds raised in 2014 from our 6th cycling challenge taking place in the US from Philadelphia to Washington DC on the 19th of September. With these two cycles we aim to support the REACH Gaza project up to the end of 2015; caring for over 1000 children in Gaza.
| Supporters | |||
| Name | Date | Amount | Comments |
| Anonymous Friend | 09/23/2014 | $900.00 | Proceeds from PCRF Fundraiser Dinner on 9/14 | Tala Mortada | 09/22/2014 | $20.00 | Thomas Recchione and Ghia Zaatari | 09/21/2014 | $50.00 | Bravissima! | Michael Muhanna | 09/21/2014 | $500.00 | Peace & Love | Kareem Ramadan | 09/19/2014 | $20.00 | Anonymous Friend | 09/18/2014 | $200.00 | Gabriella Romanos | 09/15/2014 | $75.00 | Raya Musallam | 09/15/2014 | $50.00 | You rock! Good luck & thank you for doing this! | Hala A. Malak | 09/10/2014 | $40.00 | Great Initiative! Good work. | Rania Dalloul | 09/07/2014 | $30.00 | Ammar Shallal | 08/27/2014 | $100.00 | Malek Sadder | 08/22/2014 | $95.00 | Congrats ma beautiful sister! | Anonymous Friend | 08/21/2014 | $50.00 | Good luck ! | Niamh Hughes | 08/20/2014 | $50.00 | May your buttocks survive the bumpy road! I'm so proud of you! | Anonymous Friend | 08/20/2014 | $200.00 | Charles Maalouf | 08/19/2014 | $50.00 | aaaa, good luck! the feeling after finishing the first long bike ride is insane! enjoy :) | Sami Bashour | 08/15/2014 | $100.00 | I don't know why I'm so late on this, but I guess better late than never... Good luck with the ride; it'll be tough but so worth it. | Dania Bdeir | 08/15/2014 | $50.00 | Mohamad Saad | 08/15/2014 | $100.00 | I WISH I could do this with you, but the uncertainty of September is what made me hesitate. SO proud of you for doing this! XO | Samer Bou Saleh | 08/14/2014 | $5.00 | Lynn Abdouni | 08/13/2014 | $25.00 | Farrah Berrou | 08/13/2014 | $10.00 | Go Leen! Cycling through you! | Farrah Berrou | 08/13/2014 | $15.00 | I thought it didn't go through - here ya go :) Go Leen!! | Danah Abdal | 08/13/2014 | $100.00 | Alison Kudlow | 08/12/2014 | $40.00 | Way to stand up and do something! | Celia Atassi | 08/12/2014 | $50.00 | Paul Ingram | 08/11/2014 | $100.00 | Good luck on this great cause! | Sura Zaatari | 08/11/2014 | $100.00 | so proud of you. as always you're finding more ways to give and spread awareness about causes that truly matter and need a stronger voice. | Thomas Recchione and Ghia Zaatari | 08/08/2014 | $100.00 | Very inspiring Leen, you continue to inspire us all. I am sure you will exceed your goal with such a strong cause in mind. Cheering for you! | Rola Ghadban | 08/06/2014 | $40.00 | Proud of you Leen! | Anonymous Friend | 08/04/2014 | $100.00 | Wish all this agony will stop And may Allah the merciful will send help for homeless women ,old people and children. | Arly Tuysuzian | 08/02/2014 | $50.00 | Good luck Leen! | Lena Saleh | 08/01/2014 | $500.00 | Hi Leen I am so proud to see you taking action on these sad circumstances. I worked with PCRF once in Lebanon taking photos of the children in the refugee camps. It is a great foundation and my family and I are happy to support you during this time. Thank you for doing this for all of us! Best of luck dear. x Lena | Dina Mahmoud | 07/31/2014 | $70.00 | Anonymous Friend | 07/31/2014 | $80.00 | Best of luck with this, Leen! Thanks for doing it! | Nayla Yehia | 07/30/2014 | $15.00 | Amanda Kennedy | 07/30/2014 | $20.00 | Congratulations Leen, you are amazing!!!!!!! | Dima Boulad | 07/30/2014 | $20.00 | Go Go Leeno! | Zuhair Shamma | 07/30/2014 | $100.00 | Good luck! | Randa Adra | 07/29/2014 | $40.00 | good luck! <3 | Roa Elbizri | 07/29/2014 | $100.00 | Sami Alami | 07/29/2014 | $50.00 | Fabian Pfortmueller | 07/29/2014 | $50.00 | Talal Assir | 07/29/2014 | $100.00 | D Arbid | 07/29/2014 | $20.00 | Darine Fayed | 07/29/2014 | $40.00 | Rock it! | Nour Tohmé | 07/29/2014 | $20.00 | Good luck Leen! I hope you reach even higher than your goal, and help as many children as possible. xxx | Mike Daher | 07/29/2014 | $100.00 | Anonymous Friend | 07/29/2014 | $30.00 | Celine Salman | 07/29/2014 | $40.00 | Rami Abou-khalil | 07/29/2014 | $50.00 | Maha Hakki | 07/29/2014 | $30.00 | You go girl! | Khaled Jalanbo | 07/29/2014 | $100.00 | Good luck! | Anonymous Friend | 07/29/2014 | $25.00 | Amer Murad | 07/29/2014 | $120.00 | good luck buddy!! | Kareem Hamady | 07/29/2014 | $100.00 | Dima Atassi | 07/29/2014 | $150.00 | From Jiddo and me :) We love you! | Ali Ezzeddine | 07/29/2014 | $100.00 | Ramz Lightz | 07/28/2014 | $50.00 | Good luck. | Mansi Gupta | 07/28/2014 | $20.00 | Hoda Ballout Boushakra | 07/27/2014 | $100.00 | Joanna K | 07/27/2014 | $20.00 | Anonymous Friend | 07/27/2014 | $400.00 | Joud Sebai | 07/27/2014 | $50.00 | Tala Daya | 07/27/2014 | $50.00 | Anonymous Friend | 07/26/2014 | $100.00 | best of luck! | Firas & Melika Al-Kawas | 07/26/2014 | $250.00 | Good luck! It is wonderful that you are doing this! Tante Melika and Amo Firas | Serene Al-Kawas | 07/26/2014 | $50.00 | Nour supports you and the children of Gaza! | Khaled Boubess | 07/26/2014 | $100.00 | Ribal Rayess | 07/26/2014 | $20.00 | Jawaher Al Sudairy | 07/26/2014 | $100.00 | Yasmeen Abughaida | 07/25/2014 | $75.00 | You are an agent of change. Love you. | Ramzi Aboutaam | 07/25/2014 | $50.00 | Leen, it is people like you who give me hope that one day the people in the Middle East will finally be able to live in dignity, peace, and freedom that they deserve. Bon courage my dear friend! T | Hana Zoghby | 07/25/2014 | $20.00 | Thomas Recchione and Ghia Zaatari | 07/25/2014 | $50.00 | Dana Ballout | 07/25/2014 | $100.00 | Love you | D Burt | 07/25/2014 | $20.00 | Kleoniki Vlachou | 07/25/2014 | $30.00 | Dalea Alawar | 07/25/2014 | $50.00 | Good luck on the ride | Amanda Naoufal | 07/25/2014 | $50.00 | Anna Valle | 07/25/2014 | $20.00 | Chafic Kazoun | 07/25/2014 | $200.00 | Mansour Bleik | 07/25/2014 | $25.00 | Well done Lynn ! | Kamal Sadder | 07/25/2014 | $200.00 | I'm proud of people like you that still remember this part of the world , care about it , and help improve it. | Meshal Lakhani | 07/24/2014 | $200.00 | From the Lakhani Fam. | Dana Halabi | 07/24/2014 | $50.00 | Great initiative! Wish I could be cycling with you. | Sarah Bilson | 07/24/2014 | $50.00 | Thank you for your quick response and dedication, Leen. |
| Total | $7,985.00 | ||