Haneen lives in a tent in Khan Younis with her three daughters, Rafeef (7), Salma (5) and Khitam (2). She is 8 months pregnant. Her children cry for bread and milk every day, little Khitam wears trash bags instead of diapers, and they fall asleep to the sound of bombs almost nightly since the end of the ceasefire. No aid has made it into Gaza in months and every kind of food is prohibitively expensive. Haneen is trying to raise money to cross into Egypt so she can raise her new baby in relative safety, but the crossing costs $5000 per person.

My wife and I have been in touch with Haneen for over a year and have video chatted when internet is stable enough, allowing us to see the reality of life in Gaza. Even seeing the tents among the ruins and rubble, it is impossible to comprehend the terror and agony Haneen and all Palestinians in Gaza go through on a daily and nightly basis with the incessant bombings, the raids and the ever present threat of starvation. Haneen stares at her girls faces and hugs them so tightly every night as she says her goodbyes, not knowing if they will make it to the next day. Even little Khitam cries in fear every time they hear a bomb or see a tank nearby, because she has seen the terror and destruction they cause.

Like many Palestinian families, Haneen's family has moved more than ten times, carrying their tent and whatever belongings they can, fleeing the bombings and ground operations, trying to make it to the supposed safe zones.

We have able to transfer small amounts to Haneen for daily necessities, and we were able to purchase her a sturdy tent to replace the patchwork tent made of old clothes and blankets she had been using previously, and this helped her and her children make it through the winter. They were so happy with the tent, as if they had won the lottery, this is how dire circumstances have become. But with the baby on the way, Haneen is afraid to stay any longer in Gaza. and we cannot fund her border crossing alone.

We realize there are thousands and thousands of such stories and Haneen's family is the one we have a possibility of helping. If we can help just one family survive this hell, it would be a victory and a blessing.