Welfare Association is partnering with the United Palestinian Appeal (UPA), an independent NGO based in Washington (http://www.helpupa.com ), to provide immediate assistance to families in Gaza. Food will be purchased directly from local Palestinian farmers and distributing it to their communities. This approach helps Palestinians contribute to their own relief.

The US $350,000 will not just provide the basic items for those going hungry in Gaza; it will also benefit a starving economy. It will make a difference to a struggling farmer and a hungry child in Palestine, and will bring new hope to those most desperately in need. More than 35,000 persons will directly benefit from the project.

Sufian Mushasha, Director of Operations at WA, said that the project includes providing food packages for 5,000 needy families benefiting more than 30,000 persons. In addition, hot meals will be provided to 1,500 children in 15 KGs, and food supplies will be provided to 4,050 persons in 3 elderly homes and 2 orphanages. Milk and cheese will be purchased from a local factory in Gaza to distribute in school feeding programs for children, who are especially vulnerable to malnutrition. The project will task an external nutrition expert to participate in the defining of food packages and meals contents.

Since its establishment, Welfare Association has always tried to respond to the urgent needs of the population in addition to the development programs. In the year 2006, WA implemented 36 different projects in the Emergency Relief Sector with disbursements over $3.5 million. Around 340,000 persons benefited from these emergency relief programs.