WCK providing emergency food assistance to families in Gaza
In early May, close to 100,000 people were displaced in Gaza due to violence and airstrikes—1,100 families lost their homes completely. Many more are still dealing with power and water outages, making it difficult to access food. The recent destruction is compounding Gaza’s longstanding humanitarian crisis due to chronic food insecurity and the added toll of Covid.
To support these families, WCK has partnered with Anera to prepare thousands of fresh, nourishing meals for people displaced or unable to access food in Gaza. Together, we are working with the Cooperative Society for Savings and Lending (CSSL), a women’s cooperative and vocational training center, to deliver the meals. Beginning first with a kitchen in Beit Hanoun in North Gaza, approximately 50 women have been preparing the meals with fresh produce from local farmers.
We have now also partnered with Laterna, a local restaurant, to prepare more daily meals for families in need. WCK is paying to restaurant to prepare meals for impacted communities. With the CSSL women’s collective, our teams are now serving 3,000 meals each day in four cities—Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, Jabailya, and Gaza City.
The destruction we’ve seen devastating. Standing in the kitchen of their home, this child met our team to collect meals for his family; they sat in the only part of their home that remains, eating the warm meals together.
Back at the kitchen, our team met Islam. He is nine years old and in the 4th grade in Beit Hanoun. With his parents and five siblings, Islam was asleep when a bomb hit their home, forcing the family to flee. They lost everything they own. Islam’s father told us, “We lost our modest kitchen utensils and our stove. We couldn’t even salvage a single cooking pot—the entire kitchen is gone.”
In the coming weeks, we will be expanding our efforts to reach more families with nutritious, comforting meals. To support our work, donate here. As always, follow WCK on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.
