Save Gaza Plays Peace! (See Update)

UPDATE: As of March 2024, we are trying to evacuate the Ahmed family (which includes 2 GPP) players from Rafah to Egypt. Please donate to the GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-loai-w-family-from-gaza-safely-reunite-again

Donations have been paused for this fundraiser.

If you need your donation to the family to be tax-deductible, please contact us at gazaplayspeace@gmail.com.

Dear friends,

The past months have devastated Gaza. For the first few weeks, our players and managers were able to take refuge in the Ahmed family home in Gaza City. Even with bombs falling, the team had each other. They did not know that they would soon lose everything. 

They have lost their house and all of their possessions, fleeing from Gaza City to Rafah. Please donate today--they are facing starvation. Any amount of money helps a great deal.

Founder and chief coach Loai founded GPP in 2015 in memory of the 4 Bakr children who were killed during the 2014 attacks. chief coach Loai founded GPP in 2015 in memory of the 4 Bakr children who were killed during the 2014 attacks. The Bakr children were playing soccer on Gaza Beach when they were killed by an Israeli missile. Since 2015, the purpose of Gaza Plays Peace has been to provide a healthy community for the children of Gaza, offering soccer training, English classes, and homework help to some of the world’s most under-served children. 

Help by donating today. Please designate for Gaza Plays Peace.

Above: GPP Academy

Gaza is a difficult place to grow up in, but we saw to it that our players were happy and healthy. 

GPP’s first generation is almost grown now, with our oldest players now ages 16 and over. With the support of our dedicated leadership team and generous donations from our American friends, GPP raised a generation of Gazan children. 

Below: Our First Generation Team, 2018 (top) and 2023 (bottom)

At Gaza Plays Peace, we do not like to focus on the negative. We want to focus on what good we can do in terrible situations. We like telling you that your donations have bought soccer balls, cleats, and school supplies. But right now your donations are needed for basic things like food, water, shelter, and medicine. 

Right now, we must be very clear: All of Gaza is under threat of starvation; all children have been psychologically and physically damaged. Very little aid is getting in; the US government has defunded UNRWA.

We need your help--right now donations like yours are all that stands between the children of GPP and starvation.

On 29 December 2023, the Ahmed family home was destroyed, forcing the Ahmed family and many of the players to flee south towards Rafah. Some of our older players, including our goalkeeper on the first generation team, were taken captive by the army and remain in the north. 

Above: A crater and bulldozer tracks are all that remain of the Ahmed family house where the team and Ahmed family took refuge.

GPP’s American supporters have been able to send funds via the USA, so any funds you donate here will be received by the Ahmed family and the remaining team members in Rafah.

A tent in Rafah costs up to $1000 USD, and that does not include international money transfer fees. Clothing, medicine, and sanitary products are in short supply. Food is very expensive in Gaza due both to the blockade and the incredible shortages caused by lack of aid: $1.50 per egg, $2 for 8 oz of water, $15 for a small bottle of oil, and $150 for a large sack of flour. 

It is only because of generous American donors like you that the children of GPP are able to eat. Food and money transfers are both very expensive in Gaza, so any amount helps. All donations are tax-deductible. 

Thank you to Save Our Story Inc. for partnering with us. 

Please designate your donation for Gaza Plays Peace. Thank you.