Rebuilding 21-Year-Old Seraj's Life & Dreams
help him evacuate and provide for his family of 9!
Organized by Fed Up For Palestine
Rebekah Stewart
Fundraiser since Apr 2024
$0
0 supporters
0% of $500 goal
Rebekah Stewart's Story
Team Members
null
$128
3 Supporters
Rebekah
$0
0 Supporters
Story
Campaign Update
11 months ago
PLEASE REFER TO @REBIRTHGARMENTS INSTAGRAM PAGE FOR UPDATES ON HOW
TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS CAMPAIGN
HOLDER. FED UP 4 PALESTINE NO LONGER
HOSTS THIS CAMPAIGN!
THANK YOU!
- FED UP TEAM
Campaign Update
about 1 year ago
Seraj’s Support Soirée Auction is now open for bidding! Find all the items at givebutter.com/c/serajsupport/auction and bid until May 3rd. To bring awareness to our auction, Sky is hosting a 2-hour virtual accessible dance party on Zoom! Tickets to the event are available on a sliding scale. Find all the details here: https://givebutter.com/c/serajsupport
Seraj went again to his family’s home yesterday to clean up glass, dirt, and debris. He tried to return earlier today, but tanks fired at him, so he returned to Ra Fah.
I (Rebekah) want to encourage all of you to continue supporting Seraj and sharing his family’s story with everyone. Seraj and our team made a decision early on to focus on daily living expenses, rather than trying to fund an evacuation for their family. We are determined to continue supporting them to the best of our abilities!
Because Seraj and his family are not trying to evacuate, our financial goals have been flexible to accommodate the precarious circumstances of Gah Zah. We are eagerly awaiting a permanent Sees-fire, but until then, everything is still an emergency. Doing anything in Gah Zah requires cash in hand: showering, charging phones, even using the bathroom and acquiring aid boxes.
Seraj’s family includes 9 members. For months, your donations have fed them and provided medication when they needed it. Thankfully, they are all still alive. No one knows how long this Jenna side will last, but our team has promised to help Seraj and his family rebuild and follow their dreams as soon as possible.
We need all the support we can get! Tell your friends, your family, your mail person, and anyone else you can think of. When governments and nonprofits can’t or won’t help, it’s our job to take care of each other. Help us take care of our sweet friend Seraj and his wonderful family. Thank you!
Image descriptions:
Image 1: A flyer with photos and text: text reads, “Seraj’s Support Soirée!
Auction + event tickets at givebutter.com/serajsupport
Virtual Accessible Rebirth Garments Dance Party:
April 29 from 7-9pm CST
Bid on Art, Items and Services until May 3 at 11:45pm CST
DJ Queer Shoulders
Access Doulas!
Audio Description
Sound Description
Auto Captions”
There is a QR code that goes to the auction and event link!
Photos are featuring a Selfie of Seraj folding a bundle of Eid Envelopes of cash to give to families around him! He has a heart emoji over his face for security. A selected few auction items float around him including: A @finneganshann0n anti stairs club lounge beanie, @vivienwise upcycled cowboy safety vest, Rebirth Garments Protest Banners, @croadcore New World Tarot deck, @fierceblackfemme Signed copy of Black Disability Politics. Small Rebirth Garments models are dancing in the corner.
Image 2: Seraj with a red heart over his face giving a thumbs up. He is wearing a cream, gray, and green kuffiyeh and a black and gray houndstooth sweater. He is standing amidst the rubble of his destroyed home.
Image 3: A blurry screenshot from a video call with Seraj. You can see the shell of a burnt and destroyed school building near his uncle’s home.
Image 4: Another blurry screenshot from a video call with Seraj. You can see standing buildings in the background, but the foreground is a courtyard full of piles of rubble.
Image 5: A blurry screenshot from a video call with Seraj. You can see many tiny pieces of crushed glass inside of a window frame.
Campaign Update
about 1 year ago
It has been quite an eventful week for Seraj and company! We’ll start with the bad news and end on a lighter note.
Seraj asked one of his neighbors from his village in the Gah Zah Strip to check on the state of his family’s home. He learned today that both his family’s first floor home and the second floor apartment that he and his brother shared have been demolished. This almost made him lose hope.
However, as Seraj always does, he made a plan to make things better. His father estimated the costs to repair their homes, and Seraj is eager to rebuild and get back to following his dreams. For now, though, their family is focused on survival. Seraj is determined to do his best, no matter what.
Seraj used almost all of his funds–around $3,000 USD–to distribute cash aid envelopes to 135 of his displaced neighbors yesterday for Eid. The pictures and videos he has shown us are beautiful! Follow @se3raj.0 on Instagram to see more!
Several members from our team got to have a long video call with Seraj today. He called us from a cafe in Rah Fah where over 1,000 folks were gathered to watch the Manchester v Madrid football match. The energy was so joyful with hundreds of Gah Zans shouting, whistling, screaming, and celebrating! In Seraj’s words: “Despite the war! We live.”
Our chat also helped lift our spirits after the disheartening news about Seraj’s apartment. Seraj told us “I feel that there is great energy inside me. In reality. Just when I talked to you.” We dearly love Seraj, and we are just as determined as he is to make his dreams come true. Will you stand alongside him with us?
Image Descriptions:
Image #1: A concrete room with a large square open window. The floor is covered in huge chunks of concrete rubble.
Image #2: Another concrete room with a square open window. The floor is covered in chunks of rubble and a round hole is blown through one wall.
Image #3: A woman’s arm holding a beautiful white and gold envelope. She is wearing flowing sleeves in various shades of blue with a sparkly embellishment.
Image #4: A little boy holding another beautiful white and gold envelope. He also has big brown eyes and another sweet smile.
Campaign Update
about 1 year ago
Hi everyone! Thank you for your continued support of Seraj, his family, and his mutual aid projects. We have two more updates for you all today!
we have another giving option with less fees. Go to givebutter.com/seraj to donate more directly to Seraj (as opposed to his Go Fund Me)
Next, Seraj is hard at work today on his third and final Ramadan mutual aid project. He’s been sending us videos this morning of himself stuffing cash into beautiful envelopes he found. He’s so happy and excited to make people smile today!
Not only is cash king in Gah Zah right now, but it’s also very hard to find. Go-betweens in Rah Fah are taking a 15-17% commission when folks get cash out. Friends in other areas of Gah Zah have told me that it has been impossible to find any cash for weeks. As a reminder, everything in Gah Zah requires cash: charging phones, going to the bathroom, even securing humanitarian aid.
Seraj’s project will help multiple families by providing them with cash. He’s even created a sliding scale to ensure that larger families get enough money to support each family member. Seraj is constantly demonstrating his generosity, thoughtfulness, and humility!
Everyone on our fundraising team is constantly trying to get Seraj to take care of himself. He always puts everyone else first. As he supports his immediate family, extended family, and neighbors with mutual aid, he often leaves nothing for himself. Since we are still waiting on a Sees-fire, it’s important that donations keep coming in to provide for his family.
We know that we don’t have the power to keep Seraj physically safe. It has been an honor to help his family find a little bit of financial security during this Jenna side, and we hope you’ll continue to partner with us! Please share Seraj’s story with everyone you know. We are so proud of him and grateful to know him!
Image #1: A little girl with short curly hair and big brown eyes wearing a light gray dress in front of a red tent. She is smiling sweetly and also holding a beautiful white and gold envelope.
Image #2: an elderly woman holding an envelope from Seraj
