<div>Hello friends!
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<div>My name is Andrew Smith. I live in Hampshire, England (UK) and I have organised this fundraiser to assist some very poor families in Gaza, Palestine.
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<div>This fundraiser builds on one I set up in 2018 to help a group of families living under siege conditions in the Gaza Strip. This in itself built on earlier campaigns run on the YouCaring platform.
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<div>The mother of the main beneficiary family uses the name of Mai online, and she would pass on the donations to the other families, who were mostly either related to her or were her friends.
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<div>Not long after setting up the campaign in 2018 one of the donors queried the genuineness of the beneficiary families, so I asked the UK charity Amos Trust which has partners in Palestine to help check out the families. One of its trustees had a friend in Gaza who was able to vouch for Mai and her family. This enabled me to reassure donors that the fundraising campaign was valid and trustworthy.
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<div>Late in 2020 Mai was able to leave Gaza with her children and join her husband in Turkey. Her other family and friends remained in Gaza and Mai was able to use the continuing GoFundMe donations to support them. Subsequently Mai and her family moved to Belgium.
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<div>Since the present war broke out in October 2023 the situation faced by the beneficiaries remaining in Gaza has become dire, as it has of course for all Gazans caught up in the conflict. They have been displaced from their homes and now live in tents, struggling to feed themselves and their families. Basic foods, where they are available, have become extremely expensive. I have therefore relaunched this fundraising campaign to help Mai help these families meet their considerable needs.
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<div>I first got to know Mai and one of her relatives over the Internet in September and October 2017. I am honoured to know these people with their extraordinary courage. The other families who benefit are also known to several of the regular donors to the earlier campaigns.
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<div>I ask for your help. Any donation will make a significant contribution to helping these poor families. Would you please help me help them?
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<div>This fundraising is completely transparent. GoFundMe will transfer the donations (less their Payment Processing Fee of 2.9% + £0.25 per donation) to my bank account on a weekly basis, from where I shall regularly transfer them to Mai's husband via PayPal. Mai will then share the proceeds among the beneficiary families.
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<div>A donor may if they wish specify in a comment that their donation is to be allocated to one or more specific families if these families are known to them, in which case Mai will allocate that donation accordingly.
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<div>Feel free to contact me through this GoFundMe page with any questions or concerns you may have about this fundraising.
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<div>Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me help these precious people.
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Please help poor families in war-torn Gaza

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