As an nascent triathlete, I have seen individuals come together in the name of sport to support each other in many different ways. I have a three year old son so the current violence in Gaza really hits close to home with the number of children being affected. No child should have to deal with such violence!
On September 18-20, I will be taking part in the 6th annual Cycling4Gaza event. This year we will be cycling over 225 miles from Philadelphia to Washington DC over the course of 3 days. While training for the ride, I am also aiming to raise $3,000 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 |
| Yasir Aleemuddin | 11/09/2014 | $100.00 | Sorry for being late in donating, but inshaAllah the money finds its way to someone who can benefit from it. | Anonymous Friend | 10/02/2014 | $50.00 | for my friend who asked me to donate for her. | Rabica Siddiqi | 09/18/2014 | $50.00 | Good luck buddy!!!! Take pics at the finish line :) | Shafeeq Ahmed | 09/16/2014 | $50.00 | Best of luck from Shafeeq, Priya & Ayan | Anonymous Friend | 09/16/2014 | $25.00 | John Jennrich | 09/15/2014 | $100.00 | Good Luck! Let me know your progress throughout the trip. Excellant cause. | Brian Fox | 09/15/2014 | $50.00 | On behalf of Tina, Soma, and Brian Fox | Arshia Sultan | 09/14/2014 | $61.00 | We are so proud of you Abu! This donation is from my sadqa money and I am honored to give to this worthy cause. | Carly Seidewand Eppley | 09/14/2014 | $50.00 | Impressive adventure for an incredible cause and couldn't have said it better myself. Ha. ...now you realize you have to perform right? Kick it! | Faisal Akbari | 09/12/2014 | $200.00 | Sameer Naseeruddin | 09/12/2014 | $500.00 | Good luck Imran! | Kirk Miller | 09/12/2014 | $100.00 | Go Imran!! | Cynthia William | 09/12/2014 | $50.00 | & Carrie Smaroff | 09/12/2014 | $100.00 | Good Luck Imran | Anonymous Friend | 09/10/2014 | $100.00 | Imran - taking your time to help others is a great great gift! Proud of you and have fun !!! | Shakir Akbari | 09/09/2014 | $50.00 | Nyla & Zaki Ibrahim | 09/08/2014 | $100.00 | May your hard work be transformed into rays of happiness for these children. God bless! | Zeshaan Qadir | 09/06/2014 | $100.00 | Best of luck Imran. | DEEPAK BAPU | 09/05/2014 | $100.00 | Good luck and thanks, Imran! | Mykyung Kang | 09/05/2014 | $50.00 | Go Imran GO!!!...and give Peace a chance! :-) | Amir and Farah Akbari | 09/04/2014 | $50.00 | Good Luck Imran!! | Suresh John Soundararajan | 09/03/2014 | $100.00 | Good luck! | Sadia Mirza | 09/03/2014 | $100.00 | Good Luck IB! | Ali Akbari | 09/02/2014 | $50.00 | Thanks | Imran Akbari | 09/01/2014 | $250.00 | Paul Charnoski | 08/31/2014 | $100.00 | In support of the children and Imran | Maria Abdullah | 08/31/2014 | $100.00 | Hang in there. | Jennifer Pagnucci | 08/31/2014 | $50.00 | Good Luck Imran! | Anonymous Friend | 08/28/2014 | $500.00 | Maria Kapadia | 08/26/2014 | $100.00 | Ahsaan Qadir | 08/25/2014 | $100.00 | May Allah bless you for doing this and iA you will kill it! But I'm sure you will because you're a beast! Good luck! | Munawar Akbari | 08/24/2014 | $200.00 | May God bless the suffering masses of the worlds, particularly Gazans | Amirah Sultan | 08/22/2014 | $100.00 | Sheina Ledesma | 08/22/2014 | $50.00 | Wonderful cause. My heart goes out to all those suffering in Gaza, especially the children <3 | Erum Sethi | 08/22/2014 | $150.00 | Many blessings to you for the ride! -Rumeiz and Erum | Anonymous Friend | 08/21/2014 | $100.00 | Amazing cause! Go team Imran! | Adnan Akbari | 08/20/2014 | $100.00 | Tanveer Sultan | 08/20/2014 | $100.00 | I hope you reach your goal.I pray for you and for gaza. Ihope money spend well on gaza,s people love ammi Tanveer Sultan |
| Total | $4,286.00 | ||