Palestine Grassroots Distribution Project

Donkeysaddle’s Palestine Grassroots Distribution Project (PGDP) is a small grassroots humanitarian aid project which began in 2011, growing out of urgent needs experienced by families that Donkeysaddle Projects connected to through our documentation in Gaza.

Please consider making a donation directly to PGDP.

CURRENT WORK:

PGDP has been providing ongoing support for nearly 20 extended families. We have also evacuated some of those families (whose children have special medical needs), as well as others who are injured or ill, and are now providing for re-settlement and medical care.

In addition, PGDP is addressing a small part of the overwhelming humanitarian need in Gaza with deliveries of milk and diapers.

We are also providing material support to impacted community members from other areas of crisis, including Darfur and, very recently, St Louis.

HISTORY:

PGDP grows from Donkeysaddle's belief that we must make long-term commitments to places and people; we do not engage in "hit and run" storytelling. Donkeysaddle released its first film about Gaza in 2011, about the Awajah family whose child was killed and home destroyed. An audience member asked us how she could partner with us to support the family profiled in the film, and what later became known as Palestine Grassroots Distribution Project was born.

In 2015, Donkeysaddle founder Jen Marlowe and Fadi Abushammala (our team member from Gaza) were reporting about the sanitation and water crisis in Gaza. A farmer we interviewed handed us a photo of his six-year old little boy Abdallah, with a rare lung disease, asking: could we help his little boy? From that point on, DSP has raised funds for Abdallah’s medical needs.

A few years later, the Israeli military began to deny Abdallah the permits they required to continue treatment in a hospital in Tel Aviv. Motivated by Abdallah's crisis, in 2019 Jen began writing an article about children who need medical care, but are denied permission to leave Gaza by the Israeli military.

This reporting led DSP to Mohamad, a 12-year old boy who was shot in the knee by an Israeli sniper, severing his main nerve. For six months, the Israeli military denied Mohamad a permit to travel to Jerusalem for extremely time-sensitive nerve transplant surgery. Ultimately, Mohamed’s leg was amputated. We’ve been raising funds for Mohamad's ongoing medical needs since then.

2025 UPDATES ON AWAJAH FAMILY, MOHAMAD, AND ABDALLAH:

The Awajah family has continued to endure devastating losses. Kamal (the father of family) died in the summer of 2023. Their home was destroyed for the third time during the early days of the escalated genocide, and the Israeli military killed two of Wafaa’s (the mother of the family) daughters. The family has been bouncing back and forth between Rafah in the south and Nusseirat in the middle area of Gaza Strip, desperately trying to find safety. PGDP has continued to provide them monthly support to offset the escalating price of basic items needed for survival.

Mohamad’s sister Maisa and her children were killed in an airstrike and his home was destroyed. His amputated limb was causing him excruciating pain, as he wasn’t able to receive the follow-up care he needed after another surgery in September 2023. We evacuated Mohamad and his mother to Egypt in May 2024, where he has endured several more surgeries. PGDP is supporting Mohamad and his mother in Cairo, and other family members in Gaza. Mohamad has a new baby niece, named Maisa after his sister.

Abdallah and his family have been displaced from the middle area to southern Gaza. The medicine for Abdallah’s lung disease is currently unavailable in Gaza and he was struggling to breathe. We raised the funds to evacuate Abdallah and his mother to Cairo so Abdallah could be treated, but, the Israeli army closed over the Rafah border crossing before they could leave. We managed to get several months of Abdallah’s medication into Gaza and his breathing has improved greatly. We also have been renting them a shelter so that Abdallah could endure the winter, and provide them monthly support.