Chinese individuals, NGOs donate money, food to Gaza

Every day, the tragic situation of people in the war-torn Gaza Strip, particularly that of sick and wounded children, deeply touches the heart of Guo Yan, the owner of a company based in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Despite being thousands of miles away, Guo promptly made a donation of 23,800-yuan ($3,334) to support the people in Gaza, which is sufficient to purchase 15-day basic food parcels for 50 families.

"I'm lucky to live in a country where there is no war or famine. But there are still people who live in darkness," Guo told the Global Times on Tuesday. "I think we have the responsibility to light up that small piece of darkness and haze in the world."

Guo and her company are among several Chinese enterprises, individuals, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have voluntarily donated money and supplies to Gaza, besides the humanitarian aid offered by the Chinese government, as they try to lend a helping hand to those enduring the ravages of war.

On October 26, the Beijing One Heart Sphere Charity Foundation (BOHS) and several Chinese civil commonweal groups, such as the Federation of Wenzhou Blazing Youth (Blazing Youth) and the Zhejiang Eternal Love Foundation (ZELF), initiated a campaign to provide basic food parcels that mainly include rice, lentils, oil, canned beef and sugar to more than 1,000 families in Gaza.

Each parcel costs $60, according to Weng Xiaoyou, director of Blazing Youth and ZELF initiator.

The involved organizations purchased the food parcels with financial contributions from Chinese donors including Guo, and hired local volunteers in Gaza to help distribute the supplies, said Ma Bin, who is responsible for the BOHS in Pakistan.

Ma said that people on the front lines understand the challenges of acquiring goods and the risks associated with transporting donated supplies. "Many of the volunteers have previously conducted business in China and have witnessed its development and prosperity, and they experienced the kindness and warmth of the Chinese people. They transformed their gratitude into practical actions, contributing their efforts to the cause of peace," he told the Global Times.

In the war-torn Gaza Strip, children lose their lives every day due to the conflict, and hundreds of thousands of refugees have been forced to migrate from the north to the south of Gaza. Many are now struggling due to the lack of medical care, a shortage of fresh water, and food scarcity, said Ma.

"The donated parcels represent the caring support from ordinary Chinese people to the victims in Gaza and convey their appeal for peace," he said.

In Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, local NGOs Blazing Youth and ZELF have also been actively calling for and collecting donations. Their efforts went toward 200 out of the latest batch of 500 food parcels that the BOHS and local volunteers helped purchase for people in Gaza. According to Lin Weiwei, deputy director of Blazing Youth, who also personally donated 20,000 yuan ($2,796), they are now raising funds for the next batch.

"Fortunately, there was a short cease-fire when local volunteers were distributing the latest batch of parcels in Gaza," Lin recalled. She added that they are trying to raise more funds during the cease-fires, as it allows the frontline volunteers to distribute supplies more safely.

"The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is physically far away from us in China, but I have found that many people in China are paying great attention to it and are willing to help [the victims and their families in] Gaza," Lin told the Global Times. "We live in a global community of shared future, and we want to provide assistance within our capacity."

Though most Chinese donors are not able to send supplies to Gaza in person, their love and care can be felt there in various ways.

Weng shared that they are inviting some teenagers in Wenzhou to draw pictures of love and peace. "The frontline volunteers will then print the soft copies of these pictures and distribute them along with our next batch of donated parcels as a way to express the love and well wishes of the Chinese people," he said.

Prior to the conflict, the BOHS, Blazing Youth, and the ZELF had made joint efforts to donate money and supplies to people in need around the world, including victims of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria earlier this year.

"As citizens of a responsible major country, we are eager to give a helping hand when there are natural disasters or humanitarian crises," said Weng. "I believe that love and care have no borders, and they can bear all things."