Annual Dinner 2026: We Carry Tomorrow

Last Friday, Oct. 9, Anera held its Annual Dinner in Washington DC. The event raised $1 million in support of Anera’s work serving the most vulnerable communities in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.

For 58 years, the Anera community has continued to care for one another and create opportunities for a better life. That work doesn’t happen automatically. It happens because people decide it must continue. Tomorrow doesn’t arrive on its own. We carry it forward, step by step, person by person, generation by generation. The families and children Anera serves carry it. The local staff and partners doing this work every day carry it. The people who have supported Anera for decades carry it. Everyone who has ever given to Anera is part of that “we.”

Alicia Philips Mandaville, acting CEO, delivered an update on Anera’s work over the past year (watch her speech). This past year has been marked by tremendous hardships: including a new regional war, the destruction of family homes and villages in Gaza and in Lebanon, and surging road blocks and settler violence in the West Bank that is deepening the isolation of Palestinian communities. This reality is hard. But the consistent support from Anera’s community of individual and institutional donors has meant Anera’s teams are still there, delivering what people need and focused on dignity of place.

Anera also took some time to honor some individuals who have a valued place in our community. In recognition of his many years of steadfast and generous support of Anera and its mission, we honored Walid Hasan Kattan. His son, Sami Kattan, spoke movingly of what his father means to him (watch his speech). In recognition of their principled leadership, wisdom and commitment to Anera’s mission and serving people at home and abroad, we honored Senator Chris Van Hollen and Anera Board Member Katherine Wilkins (watch their speeches). And for his years of dedicated and unflagging service to the organization, we honored Sean Carroll, Anera’s now former president and CEO (watch his speech).

Thank you to everyone who attended for being there and for displaying such amazing generosity. Your support will directly impact Anera’s capacity to serve our communities in the year ahead. It can mean building a new kindergarten in the West Bank, new water and sanitation infrastructure, or rooftop family gardens in Lebanon. It can mean sustaining our healthcare clinics and food deliveries in Gaza, or providing additional young people in Jordan with the skills and experience they need to enter the workforce. Again, thank you!