Anera and World Central Kitchen partner to provide emergency food assistance in Gaza

May 18, 2021 | Washington, DC — Anera (American Near East Refugee Aid) and World Central Kitchen (WCK), a nonprofit organization that uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond, are partnering to deliver emergency meals to the rising numbers of injured and displaced families in Gaza. 

The UN now considers 58,000 Palestinians in Gaza to be internally displaced persons, seeking shelter as a result of damage and destruction from escalating attacks in the past week. Thousands of those are displaced from over 1,100 homes that have been destroyed or suffered severe or major damage. In addition to displacement, power and water outages also make it difficult for non-displaced households to provide meals for their displaced relatives and neighbors.

“With this grave emergency, coming on top of still-worrying COVID rates and a stifled economy, Anera will provide meals to as many of the displaced as we can,” said Sean Carroll, Anera president and CEO. “We are fortunate to be partnering with José Andrés and World Central Kitchen to do this. Chef Andrés is a great humanitarian and in emergencies around the globe he and World Central Kitchen are there, consistently responding quickly and at large scale.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, Anera has been providing meals to vulnerable families in Gaza, particularly those quarantined due to COVID-19. Now, with support from donors and partners, Anera and WCK will begin work immediately to provide meals to as many of the thousands of newly-displaced as possible. Anera’s Gaza staff is working with the Cooperative Society for Savings and Lending (CSSL), a women’s cooperative and vocational training center and long-time Anera partner, to deliver meals. Anera and CSSL recently, over just a two-month period, worked together to deliver 40,225 meals to families quarantined with COVID-19 and to school children in need. Depending on the scale of the need of the newly-displaced, Anera and WCK may work with local restaurants and hotels as well to provide meals. 

Anera and WCK will support the work of some 50 women making meals at five CSSL vocational training centers across Gaza’s five governorates, all of which have suffered bombings and displacement. CSSL procures produce from 25 farmers who are also beneficiaries of, and now partners in, Anera’s humanitarian aid work. The Anera/WCK initiative will support and sustain up to 100 workers at the women’s cooperatives, farms and restaurants to deliver tens of thousands of meals over the next days and weeks, as needed. Much of the initial meal-making and delivery will take place in North Gaza, an area hit particularly hard by missiles and where thousands of families have lost their homes or been temporarily displaced.

If you would like to support this vital initiative, please do so at anera.org/gaza-meals.

For more information:

Steven Fake
Media Relations Officer
202.266.9719
[email protected]

About Anera

Since 1968, Anera has helped refugees and others hurt by conflicts in the Middle East live with dignity and purpose. Anera, which has no political or religious affiliation, works on the ground with partners in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, and Jordan. We mobilize resources for immediate humanitarian relief and for sustainable health, education, and economic development efforts. Our staff are from the communities they serve, navigating the politics that constrict progress to get help where it’s needed most. We will keep building better lives until hope finds its way in the Middle East.

About World Central Kitchen

World Central Kitchen (WCK) uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond. When disaster strikes, WCK’s Chef Relief Team mobilizes to the frontlines with the urgency of now to start cooking and provide meals to people in need. Deploying our model of quick action, leveraging local resources, and adapting in real time, we are able to respond to multiple disasters at once — often on opposite ends of the world. By partnering with organizations on the ground and activating a network of food trucks or emergency kitchens, WCK provides freshly made, nutritious meals to survivors of disasters quickly and effectively. We know that good food provides not only nourishment, but also comfort and hope, especially in times of crisis.