Please take a few minutes to read Rashed's story below. My family and I have been in touch with him for years and have been heartbroken to see the devastation that his family has suffered during this war. All donations will be transferred directly to Rashed. Your kindness could make a life-changing difference for his family.

Dear friends and kind-hearted people around the world,

My name is Rashed Mohammad Abu Hashem. I am 30 years old, from Rafah in Gaza, Palestine. I am a husband, a son, and a brother. Today, I am reaching out to people around the world with a heavy heart, asking for help during one of the most difficult periods of my life.

I never imagined that I would one day have to ask strangers for help to provide food, clean water, medical care, and safe shelter for the people I love. Before the war, I worked hard, supported my family, and dreamed of building a peaceful future. We had a home, a livelihood, and hope for tomorrow.

Then our lives were shattered.

We Lost Our Home and Two Beloved Brothers

On May 18, 2024, our family home in Rafah was bombed. In that devastating attack, I lost my two beloved brothers, Hamza Mohammad Abu Hashem and Al-Hussein Mohammad Abu Hashem. Losing my brothers is a pain that words can never fully express. They were not simply family members; they were part of my life, my memories, and my hopes for the future. They had dreams and ambitions, and they deserved the chance to live their lives.

Their loss left a wound in our family that will never truly heal. We remember their voices, their presence, and the moments we will never get back. Every day, we carry the sadness of knowing that they are no longer with us.

Along with losing my brothers, we lost our home and the security it once gave us. The place where we gathered as a family, shared meals, and planned our future became a painful reminder of everything that had been taken from us.

We survived, but our lives were changed forever.

A Family Displaced and Living in a Tent

After losing our home in Rafah, we were forced to leave and seek shelter in Khan Younis. Today, my family and I are living in a tent, trying to survive under extremely difficult conditions.

Before the war, I worked as a sales representative for a Palestinian telecommunications company. I was proud to earn a living and help support my loved ones. The war took away my stability, my livelihood, and the home we had worked so hard to maintain.

My family includes my parents, my brothers and sisters, my wife, and me. My father, Mohammad, was born in 1970, and my mother, Khetam, was born in 1974. They have endured years of hardship and displacement, and I want them to have a safe place where they can rest without fear.

My older brother, Rashid, is married, and his wife is also pregnant. My younger brother, Majed, is unmarried. My sister Mona is a nursing student at Al-Aqsa University. My sister Haneen is continuing her secondary education, and my youngest sister, Ghazal, is still at school.

Every member of our family has hopes and dreams. We want our sisters to have the opportunity to continue their education, our parents to live in dignity, and our family to have the basic necessities of life. Instead, we face daily uncertainty about where we will sleep, what we will eat, and whether we will have enough clean water and essential supplies.

A tent cannot provide the safety, privacy, or stability of a proper home. We struggle with the weather, limited resources, and the emotional exhaustion of living through prolonged displacement. We have lost so much, yet we continue to stand together as a family.

My Wife Is Pregnant, and I Fear for Her Health

My wife, Inshirah Abu Hashem, is 22 years old. She studies nursing at Al-Aqsa University and is currently five months pregnant. A doctor has assessed her condition, and she is suffering from malnutrition.

As her husband and the father of our unborn child, this is one of the greatest fears I carry. I want to protect her, provide her with nutritious food, and make sure she receives the medical care she needs throughout her pregnancy. But our circumstances make even these basic responsibilities incredibly difficult.

Pregnancy should be a time of happiness, preparation, and hope. Instead, we face uncertainty about food, shelter, healthcare, and the conditions in which our baby will be born. I dream of being able to provide my wife with regular medical checkups, appropriate nutrition, prescribed supplements or medicines when needed, and a clean, safe place where she can rest. I want our baby to enter this world surrounded by love and a little more security than we have experienced in recent years. I want to hold my child without constantly worrying about how I will provide the next meal or where our family will sleep.

Hunger, Hardship, and the Daily Struggle to Survive

During the most severe periods of hunger, there were days when our family had to survive on just one meal. Finding enough food and safe drinking water became a daily struggle.

The hardship has not ended with the passage of time. War and displacement have taken away our home, our livelihood, and our sense of stability. We continue to live with limited resources and uncertainty about what tomorrow may bring.

I miss the simple things that many people understandably take for granted: sleeping beneath a solid roof, drinking clean water, preparing a proper meal, watching my family rest peacefully, and making plans for the future without fear.

I want to see my parents living comfortably. I want my sisters to study without constantly worrying about survival. I want my wife to experience her pregnancy with proper care and nutrition. And I want our child to have a chance at a safer beginning. These are not luxuries. They are basic human needs.

Why I Am Asking for Your Help

I am organizing this fundraiser because I cannot overcome these circumstances alone. I am reaching out with honesty and hope, asking for support to help my family meet our most urgent needs and begin rebuilding our lives.

Funds raised through this campaign will be used, according to our most pressing needs, for:

1. Safer Shelter

Helping our family find a more secure and weather-resistant place to stay, improve our current living conditions, and work toward having a proper home again.

2. Food and Clean Drinking Water

Purchasing food, drinking water, and essential supplies to help our family maintain regular meals and meet our daily needs.

3. Medical Care for My Pregnant Wife

Covering pregnancy checkups, medically recommended nutritional support, prescribed medicines, and other necessary healthcare expenses for my wife and our unborn baby.

4. Essential Household Supplies

Purchasing blankets, clothing, hygiene products, bedding, and other necessities that are difficult to obtain while living in displacement.

5. Support for Our Family

Helping my parents, brothers, and sisters meet their basic needs, including the additional needs of the two pregnant women in our extended family.

Every contribution will help us take another step toward safety, stability, and dignity. We will do our best to use the donations responsibly and share updates about our circumstances and how the funds are helping us.

If you cannot donate, sharing this campaign with your friends, family, colleagues, and community would mean so much to us. Sometimes, simply helping our story reach another person can make a real difference.

We Have Lost So Much, but We Have Not Lost Hope

I cannot bring my brothers, Hamza and Al-Hussein, back. I cannot undo the destruction of our home or erase the painful memories our family carries.

But I still believe in the power of kindness.

I am not asking for luxury or wealth. I am asking for the opportunity to provide my family with the basic things every human being deserves: shelter, food, clean water, medical care, and hope for tomorrow.

To everyone who has taken the time to read our story, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for seeing us as human beings, for caring about a family you may never meet, and for reminding us that compassion can cross borders and reach people in their darkest moments.

Every donation matters. Every share matters. Every act of kindness gives us another reason to keep going.

Please stand with my family. Help us protect our loved ones, care for our unborn child, and begin rebuilding the life we lost.

With sincere gratitude, hope, and appreciation,

Rashed Mohammad Abu Hashem

Khan Younis, Gaza, Palestine