ANERA Donor Launches Campaign
"Shoes for Gaza"

This five-year-old at the Light of Hope Preschool in the Sha'af area of eastern Gaza is thrilled to be replacing the sandals she was wearing in winter with brand new sneakers.

This five-year-old at the Light of Hope Preschool in the Sha'af area of eastern Gaza is thrilled to be replacing the sandals she was wearing in winter with brand new sneakers.

This special logo was created for the intiative, ANERA's

This special logo was created for the initiative. It was designed by two talented nine-year-olds from Beirut, Daria Namazi and Na’el Beydoun.

In the cold and wet months of winter, following the bombardment of Gaza in early 2009, families struggled to meet their children’s most basic needs – food, blankets, roofs over their heads. Lower on the list of priorities were shoes, though many children had nothing or next to nothing to wear on their feet. Their shoes were lost with the rest of their belongings in the rubble of their homes.

ANERA’s staff working with preschoolers in Gaza were struck by how many children they saw wearing slippers to school. One five-year-old was forced to wear an adult's shoes and carry a purse as a bookbag so she could go to school. When ANERA distributed parcels of food around Gaza, children would come with their parents barefooted in bone-chilling, rainy weather.

These images and stories filtered out of Gaza, through ANERA’s website, and donors took notice.

In response to the need, ANERA donor Sharmine Narwani took the initiative to launch a campaign called "Shoes for Gaza" on Facebook over the summer. The campaign set out to raise funds for ANERA staff to purchase shoes on the local market in Gaza for preschoolers who need them. The preschoolers are all in schools that are part of ANERA's Milk for Preschoolers program.

To set the fundraising goal, ANERA contacted staff in Gaza to calculate the costs for each pair of shoes. A figure of $5,000 was set for the online fundraising campaign, with ANERA matching another $5,000 to include a purchase of backpacks as well.

In just a few weeks, Sharmine got the word out to hundreds of Facebook users and created a following of over 700 people to the campaign. She raised the $5,000 and, with ANERA’s matching $5,000, we were able to purchase 900 pairs of shoes on the local market and distribute them, along with 600 backpacks, to preschoolers across Gaza.

ANERA’s Gaza staff put together videos and slideshows of overjoyed children receiving their new items. The inspiring images were sent out through Facebook, ANERA's website, Twitter and YouTube.

Today, 900 children living in Gaza have shoes on their feet because the inspiration and initiative of one person was combined with ANERA connections and capabilities. We are ever grateful for the generous community of donors who made "Shoes for Gaza"
a success.

This story comes from the Fall 2010 print newsletter.