Within Our Lifetime is helping raise money for the annual New York City Gaza 5k on Saturday, March 2nd at 9 AM in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. As the US, UK, Germany, and several other zionist, imperialist states cut vital funding to UNRWA, we are coming together to support their efforts to raise funds for Palestinian children’s mental health programs.
You’ve marched with us through every borough and across the entire city, now join us in person or support our team online from anywhere as we run, jog and walk together, united for Gaza. Click here to sign up and run/walk with us or donate to our campaign page.
What is the Gaza 5k?
The Gaza 5K is an annual family-friendly walk/run fundraiser hosted by UNRWA USA in different US cities to help Palestine refugee children and families in the Gaza Strip impacted by mental health.
How does it work?
The Gaza 5K is a 5-kilometer timed walk/run event. Once the run is over, the fun typically continues with a DJ-ed dabke dance party. Registrants are provided an online fundraising page that they can customize with their own stories and share with their friends and family to collect donations.
Your fundraising through both the virtual and in-person Gaza 5K events allows UNRWA’s mental health program to help empower vulnerable refugees in Gaza, especially children, to better cope with the extreme challenges they face daily.
Participation and fundraising allow UNRWA to employ mental health counselors, locally recruited from the Palestine refugee population, to provide psychosocial support to address the mental health needs of refugee children and families in the Gaza Strip who suffer from trauma due to repeated Israeli military assaults and the continued blockade.
Amid the outbreak of COVID-19, the Gaza 5K went virtual and became available nationwide. On March 2, 2024, the Gaza 5K returns to Brooklyn, New York.
What impact does the Gaza 5k have?
Through the mental health program, UNRWA provides school counseling, group sessions, and even at-home counseling for those in need who are unable to travel. Counseling offers kids in Gaza a safe space to express their emotions and fears and a way to learn valuable coping skills. Learn more here
Since the inaugural Washington DC event in 2012, we’ve brought the Gaza 5K to New York City, San Francisco, Orange County, Houston, and Chicago, and raised millions through the generous contributions of our sponsors and the American community.
Gaza 5k History
Initiated in 2012, the Gaza 5K was originally established by UNRWA USA as a fundraiser for UNRWA’s Community Mental Health Programme (CMHP) to make access to mental health care a reality for all Palestine refugee children in the Gaza Strip.