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Help meet the needs of a Palestinian child in Gaza

February 11, 2015 / By UNY Communications / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Palestinian children walk to school past a spent teargas canister. Flickr photo by CPT PalestineThere is a massive ongoing humanitarian crisis affecting nearly 800,000 children in Gaza. According to UNICEF, children there were exposed to unparalleled levels of violence and destruction last summer with 539 children killed and 2,956 injured, leaving many struggling with life-long disabilities. The United Nations News Service estimates that more than 370,000 Palestinian children are in need of “psycho-social first aid.”

In response to the increasing reports of the needs of Palestinian children in Gaza, this year’s Palestinian Dinner will provide a tangible opportunity for members of the Upper New York Conference to make a difference in the life of one of these children, according to Linda Bergh, co-chair of the Conference’s United Methodist Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel.

This year’s dinner will begin at 5:15 p.m. May 29 at the Plymouth Congregational Church, Syracuse (during the 2015 Annual Conference session). An announcement about registration will be made in the future.

“Local churches, individual members, families, and friends are invited to initiate fundraisers or special offerings for the purpose of contributing toward the support of a Palestinian child in Gaza,” Bergh said. These contributions can then be brought by individuals to the Palestinian Dinner, “to be placed at a table naming the child who will be the recipient,” she added.

“This will be a connection for each of those contributing – a face, a name, a child of Gaza whose well-being will be supported and reported on to our people in Upper New York. Compassion is about making connections.”