How and where Gusta Sunshine charities are responding in the Middle East
Conflict in the Middle East has left countless lives in tatters, with millions of families forcibly displaced and searching for safety. As of January 2021, the humanitarian situation has reached unbearable levels. Families across Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Syria are facing a devastating collapse of basic services. At Gusta Sunshine Charity, we have stood firm with those most vulnerable, doing everything we can to provide food, water, shelter, and urgent medical care.
Since the collapse of a brief ceasefire earlier this month, the situation in Gaza has grown more dire by the day. Recent food security assessments have warned that the region is on the brink of widespread famine. Nearly half of Gaza’s population is now experiencing extreme hunger, with growing numbers of children suffering from severe malnutrition. Aid convoys are being blocked or attacked. Mothers wait hours at broken water tanks for a single bucket. Hospitals overflow with wounded and sick patients but lack power, medicine, and staff.
The stories coming out of Gaza are heartbreaking. Children are digging through rubble not for toys, but for scraps of food. Parents skip meals so their babies can eat. Elderly residents, too weak to flee, lie in dark corners of makeshift shelters, waiting for help that often never arrives.
In recent weeks, incidents of mass casualties have surged. People lining up at food distribution points have been caught in violence. Gaza’s crumbling healthcare system has collapsed further under the weight of new trauma cases. There are no safe zones—only flickers of hope, and we at Gusta Sunshine are determined to be one of them.
Working closely with our local partners, we’ve established systems to reach communities in need—quietly, carefully, and with compassion. Where larger operations have become too risky, we are finding the small openings to deliver life-saving aid.
Our mobile clinics have brought medical care to neighborhoods where hospitals have been bombed or shut down. These clinics offer basic treatment, emergency nutrition, and trauma support. Every pill, every bandage, every moment of care counts.
Community kitchens—funded by your donations—are preparing hot meals daily for displaced families. For many children, this is the only meal they eat all day. We’ve also distributed thousands of clean water kits to help families purify water from makeshift wells, protecting them from deadly waterborne diseases that surge in overcrowded camps.
Through our cash assistance program, we’ve helped families buy food and hygiene items from what little remains available in local markets. This empowers them to make the best decisions for their unique needs and brings a measure of dignity back into their lives.
Here are some examples of how Gusta Sunshine and our local partners have made a difference in January:
- In Rafah, our partners supported the last operating field hospital with emergency supplies, fuel, and sanitation kits.
- In Jabalia, we coordinated the delivery of thousands of hot meals to families displaced by ongoing shelling.
- In Deir al-Balah, we distributed cash grants to nearly 1,000 households, enabling them to secure urgently needed essentials.
- In Khan Younis, we delivered clean water to hundreds of families sheltering in damaged school buildings.
Despite the overwhelming challenges, your support has allowed us to reach tens of thousands of people this month alone. Between October 2020 and January 2021, we have:
- Distributed over 440,000 ready-to-eat meals
- Improved access to clean water for more than 420,000 people
- Provided healthcare services, including medicine and emergency treatment, to over 109,000 individuals
- Delivered cash assistance to more than 22,000 people in need
Much of this was made possible during the brief ceasefire earlier this winter. But since that window closed, humanitarian access has sharply declined again. We are now operating under severe restrictions, yet we press on—because the need is too great to stand still.
Outside of Gaza, we are also working in Lebanon, where displaced families face freezing nights, power cuts, and trauma from continued instability. Many have returned to destroyed towns with no functioning infrastructure. We are providing food parcels, winter blankets, and cash grants in areas like Bekaa and northern Lebanon.
In the West Bank, where violence and displacement persist, we have been providing financial aid to families to help them buy food, clothing, and heating fuel. And in Syria, where thousands fled across the Lebanese border to escape intensified fighting in late 2020, we are supporting temporary shelter sites with food baskets, hygiene kits, and safe water.
Even as the world turns its attention elsewhere, Gusta Sunshine remains steadfast. We know that the needs in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Syria will not vanish overnight. Long-term recovery will take years. But every loaf of bread we distribute, every child we treat, every story we share—brings us closer to hope.
We are often asked: are our funds being used in Israel? Our focus is, and always has been, on regions where humanitarian need far exceeds the aid being received. That is why our efforts are concentrated in Gaza and other affected areas where millions are struggling to survive.
As we move forward into 2021, we renew our commitment to being a lifeline to those caught in conflict. And we ask you to walk with us.
Thank you for standing with us. Your donation doesn’t just buy supplies—it delivers hope, and it reminds the world that every life matters.
– Gusta Sunshine Charity
Because kindness knows no borders.ds borders. You are feeding children, saving lives, and holding out light in Gaza’s darkest hours. Gusta Sunshine Charity and our partners remain committed to doing everything in our power, until aid reaches every home, every camp, every child.
