Update: Infinite thank yous to everyone who donated and helped me exceed my goal of $5000. There's 3 weeks until the cycle - and I've decided to increase my goal to $10,000 and hope we can reach it together!
In mid-Semptember, 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 |
| Rasha Shaath | 09/22/2014 | $1,000.00 | Hayoush you are just wonderful. This is me taking you past the monetary finish line! | Mo Barhoush | 09/21/2014 | $25.00 | Anonymous Friend | 09/18/2014 | $100.00 | Born to shine baby gal! You rock. Much love, w xx | Jesse Kipp | 09/17/2014 | $50.00 | Nada Zagallai | 09/14/2014 | $200.00 | so so proud of you mon petite pengue. Keep inspiring. | Gazal and Zein Kamal | 09/11/2014 | $200.00 | Best of Luck! xxx | Meryl Natow | 09/10/2014 | $50.00 | if I donate money to you it's kinda like donating money to myself. | Zeinab Shaath-Schwen | 09/10/2014 | $200.00 | Go Haya!!! | Rhea Rakshit | 09/10/2014 | $30.00 | Go Haya!! You're such a beautiful person, inside and out! You're going to rock this :) xxx | Anonymous Friend | 09/09/2014 | $150.00 | Anonymous Friend | 09/09/2014 | $50.00 | So proud of you Haya- If there was a time to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, now is certainly that time. | Hana Dalloul | 09/09/2014 | $200.00 | Go Haya!! | Anonymous Friend | 09/04/2014 | $200.00 | You make us proud | Jennifer Cassetta | 09/02/2014 | $50.00 | Kick butt on the ride! Enjoy it and make sure you HYDRATE! | Anonymous Friend | 08/30/2014 | $200.00 | Deema Pharaon | 08/30/2014 | $2,500.00 | Tala Salloum | 08/29/2014 | $200.00 | Proud of you!!!! woooohoooooo Brava!!! | Anonymous Friend | 08/26/2014 | $200.00 | Respect for doing this Haya! You're an inspiration! XX | Ahmad Itani | 08/25/2014 | $300.00 | God bless you Haya.. | Rania Mushtaha | 08/23/2014 | $200.00 | Well done Hayoush, so proud of you. Cycle away darling | Anonymous Friend | 08/23/2014 | $510.00 | Anonymous Friend | 08/22/2014 | $200.00 | Good luck ... Wishing you and the team the best of luck this year :) | Zeena Fattah | 08/22/2014 | $500.00 | Thank you Haya for trying to save innocent lives. | Muna Shukri | 08/21/2014 | $200.00 | Proud of u Hayyoush!!! U shaaths are always an inspiration!! Love ya | Alice Reiner | 08/21/2014 | $50.00 | minime? way cool bigme! | Behnaz Hadjiesmaileoo | 08/21/2014 | $200.00 | Ziyad Alami | 08/21/2014 | $100.00 | Anonymous Friend | 08/21/2014 | $500.00 | Maha Al Saleh | 08/21/2014 | $200.00 | This is such an inspirational and beautiful thing you are doing! Spread the happiness xx | Joris Ter Meulen Swijtink | 08/12/2014 | $70.00 | “Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” ~ Charles M. Schulz Glad you're using your gears and helping to change the lives of those in need. | Yasmeen Gailani | 08/08/2014 | $100.00 | love you my happy box | Nadim Shaath | 08/08/2014 | $300.00 | In support of Gaza, go Haya! | Carmen De Baets | 08/07/2014 | $30.00 | you rock penguin. | Alaa AL RAYES | 08/02/2014 | $200.00 | ROCK IT BABE and so proud of you for doing something that will make a difference to some ones life. well done!! | Anna Luiza Braga | 07/31/2014 | $25.00 | Omar Miqdadi | 07/31/2014 | $300.00 | Good job Haya :) wish we were doing more things to help!! | Reem Shaath | 07/30/2014 | $500.00 | So proud of you Haya! You're gonna rock it! | Liora Yuklea | 07/30/2014 | $30.00 | Aya Aghabi | 07/30/2014 | $100.00 | Proud of you peanuts! | Faisal Abu Khadra | 07/30/2014 | $200.00 | Anonymous Friend | 07/30/2014 | $250.00 | Next time from Amman to Jerusalem, ya bint el 7alal. (thurSS) |
| Total | $10,670.00 | ||