This fundraiser has been set up to collect PayPal donations directly into the PayPal account of Ali Herez, the beneficiary, by Shauna Jones, who lives in the US. Ali is located in Gaza City in the North of the Gaza Strip. Northern Gaza is experiencing a severe famine, due to humanitarian aid and goods not being delivered for several months.
I have been online friends with Ali for about a year. At that time, he was running a small cat shelter out of his home with money almost entirely from his job. I have organized this fundraiser for him and his family to be able to leave the devastation of Gaza and find a safe place in Egypt. He will use some of the money to buy food for his family, which is really expensive now and hard to come by. And once in Egypt, the donation money will help in paying for any necessities, whatever needs will arise there. Palestinian refugees are not allowed to work and earn money in Egypt and must rely on government assistance/foreign aid to survive. Donations will supplement any help he will receive. If he received a sufficient amount of donations, he could resume caring for homeless animals, which, unfortunately, he was unable to continue due to a lack of funds and astronomically soaring prices of pet food. As for the animals Ali will leave behind in Gaza, his brother will stay and tend to them, if there are any under his protection at that time.
Ali surveying what has become of his neighborhood.
Ali Herez (@HelpCat5 on X) normally works in construction, in the roofing industry, and his wife Nisreen is a kindergarten teacher. Neither of them have been able to work since the war started. Many of the buildings that Ali would repair are just gone, having been bombed. Schools were closed with the advent of the war, and the place Nisreen taught kindergarten was completely damaged in the bombings. Everywhere you look is destruction and heartache.
Ali working construction in better times.
Nisreen's elementary school now, where she once taught kindergarten.
Ali first became in interested in animal rescue work when he was twelve years old and he witnessed children mistreating a dog. He saved the dog's life, and from then on, he wanted to help improve the lives of animals on the street. He would bring home stray cats and his mother was very pleased, because she also loved them and kept them near her. Now that he has a family of his own, he is enthusiastically joined in caring for animals by his wife and children, who love to help. Their work of saving stray cats and getting them ready for adoption, with the help of a local veterinarian, had to stop for a while, due to the terrible effects of the war. Their cat shelter was destroyed in the first few days of the bombing, and some of the cats as well, were casualties. Ali has recently rebuilt the cat shelter, and has resumed his animal rescue work. Donations are needed to buy food for the animals.
Nursing animals back to health is quality time for this family
In the midst of fear and danger, a tiny child was born, whom their parents named Malik, meaning “Angel.” Because no humanitarian aid trucks have been arriving with food to the North of Gaza, his mother has been starving and unable to produce milk for baby Malik. His father wants to find baby formula for him, artificial milk, but doesn't have the money to negotiate with the sellers. Everything is crazy expensive right now, and people are having to go without many things. More money for this family, in the form of donations, would help them to eat more and might save all of their lives, especially Malik, who is very vulnerable and six months old.
Malik often cries from hunger and fear of the explosions.
From the North, to the South, from the East to the West, nowhere in Gaza is safe for Palestinians. The lives of Ali's family are on the line, with guns, bombs and civil unrest on the one side, and hunger, thirst and illness on the other side. Please help them get to Egypt, where they will have some security and peace of mind and be able to sleep at night. Across the border, the children might be able to re-enroll in school and continue their studies. They can all eat a regular diet again, rebuilding their health and strengthening their faith in humanity. Even though they cannot work and earn money in Egypt, they want to have as much self-determination as possible and survive. But they can't do that without your help, please donate and share this urgent appeal with your loved ones and friends on social media. Anything you can give, however small an amount will make a difference in the lives of this family that need to get out of Gaza as soon as possible.
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