Since 1988, the Middle East Children's Alliance has delivered more than $17 million in aid to Palestinian, Iraqi and Lebanese children.

This spring, MECA will send a large shipment of medicine, medical supplies, and donated items for Palestinian and Iraqi refugees in Lebanon.

Please help MECA send the most aid we can:

1. Reach out to local businesses for donations and to help pack and inventory donated items. Please contact Sophia Ritchie if you are interested in volunteering.

2. Make a special contribution now toward the $35,000 by June 1, 2010 for shipping.

We will be sending a shipment of the most urgent medications by air from Europe and then a larger shipment from the United States. We need your help to to fill 6 pallets with requested items such as new toys, children's books, clothes, and more.

Please consider donating your time or money—or both—to make this shipment possible.

Thank you,  
MECA Staff

Additional Information

MECA is working with Medical Teams International to procure the needed medicine and medical supplies. Community-based organizations in Lebanon who requested this shipment will distribute the supplies to all 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon as well as to groups working with Iraqi refugees who are scattered throughout the country. MECA has a long history of working with and supporting refugees and we are enthusiastic about this new collaboration.

In 1948, approximately 750,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes by Israeli military attacks and ethnic cleansing campaigns. Many villages in the north of Palestine were destroyed and Palestinians fled over the border with Lebanon. They numbered around 100,000. 62 years later, there are more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon waiting to return to their homes and lands. The United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) runs schools and provides health care. But its 29 primary health care facilities do not meet their needs. Community-run clinics and hospitals in the Palestinian refugee camps have reached out to MECA and requested a shipment of medicine and medical supplies to meet the growing health needs of children and families.

The coalition we are working with also includes organizations working with Iraqi refugees in Lebanon. There are an estimated 50,000 Iraqi refugees who fled from the violence of the US-led war and occupation.