🕋 For Muslims the 10 best days of the year have begun. Help us build this school for orphans in Gaza and let me teach you about Dhul Hijja
Muslims believe righteous deeds in these 10 days are especially beloved to Allah. Help us build a school for Gaza’s children.
Assalamu Alaikum and good evening from New Jersey!
My friends, for nearly 2 billion Muslims around the world, we have now entered the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah — some of the most sacred and beloved days of the entire year.
For those who are not Muslim, I want to explain this plainly. Dhul Hijjah is the month of Hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah, and the month that ends with Eid al-Adha, the holiday that honors sacrifice, obedience to Allah, and care for those in need. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught that there are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these first 10 days.
That means prayer matters.
Charity matters.
Service matters.
Mercy matters.
Standing with the oppressed matters.
And if there was ever a moment to turn our faith, compassion, and grief into action, this is it.
Right now, 470 supporters have raised $55,952 to help us build a school for orphaned children in Gaza. That means we are just $4,048 away from crossing $60,000, and if we can reach that today, it will help us stay on track toward getting construction funds to our team in Gaza next month.
🕋 Donate now in these blessed days to help build this school for Gaza’s orphans
I want to be honest about where we are. Crossing $50,000 was a beautiful milestone, and I remain deeply grateful for every single donor who helped us get there. Some people gave $5,000. Several gave $1,000. Many gave $100, $50, $25, $10, or $5. Some gave even less, and wrote to tell me they gave what they could.
And I want to say this again because I believe it with my whole heart: Allah does not judge us by the number alone. Allah knows our capacity. Allah knows what He placed in our hands. Allah knows what we did with that capacity, how sincere we were, and what it cost us to give.
The person who gave $5 may have stretched themselves more than the person who gave $500.
Allah knows best.
So whether you are Muslim and giving in these blessed days of Dhul Hijjah, or you are not Muslim but have a big heart and simply care about Gaza’s children, I am asking you to step into this moment with us. These children need a school. Our team on the ground believes we can build it. And enough people are reading these messages for us to fully fund this project if everyone does what they can.
🤲🏽 Give your Zakat, sadaqah, or tax-deductible donation today
This school is being designed for orphaned children in Gaza ages 5–9, serving Grades 1, 2, and 3. These are children who should be learning how to read, write, count, study Qur’an, ask questions, make friends, play safely, and sit in a classroom with a teacher who knows their name. Instead, many have spent the past two years surrounded by displacement, hunger, fear, grief, and the loss of family.
A school will not erase what has been done to them, but it can give them structure again. It can give them a morning routine, a desk, a whiteboard, a teacher, a courtyard, play, counselling, stability, and adults who are invested in their future.
That is what we are building.
The proposed school will include 6 fully equipped classrooms with space for approximately 270 children, around 45 students per classroom. It will include 6 washrooms, each with its own separate exterior entrance, an administrative office, a teachers’ room, a dedicated counsellor’s space, solar power support, electrical infrastructure, secure perimeter fencing, and an outdoor artificial grass play area.
This is not abstract. It is a real plan for a real school for real children who have already lost more than any child should ever be asked to carry.
📚 Help us cross $60,000 and keep this school moving toward construction
Here is where we stand.
We have raised $55,952.
We need $4,048 more to cross $60,000.
After that, our next major milestone is $100,000, which means we need $44,048 more from where we are right now.
The full school costs $250,000, so we still need $194,048 to fully fund it. That is a serious number, but we have already proven that this campaign has life. We have already proven that people are willing to give. We have already shown our team in Gaza that this is not just talk.
Now we need to keep going.
We need the donor who can give $5 and refuses to sit this out. We need the donor who can give $50 during these blessed days. We need families who can give $500 or $1,000. We need donors who can give $5,000, $25,000, or $100,000. And I am still praying for the person, family, masjid, business, or foundation that can cover the entire remaining need.
Every gift matters because every gift moves us closer to children sitting in classrooms again.
🇵🇸 Donate now through the verified LaunchGood campaign
This project is organized by Human Concern International. It is LaunchGood verified, tax-deductible, and for Muslims it is Zakat eligible.
And I want to be clear, as always: I am a full-time employee of Human Concern International and have been for more than 2 years. I do not receive fees, commissions, percentages, bonuses, or personal compensation from this fundraiser.
Not a penny.
I am doing this because Gaza’s orphaned children deserve more than emergency survival. They deserve education, structure, protection, healing, and hope. They deserve a place that tells them, in a language deeper than words, that their lives still matter and their future is still worth building.
In these first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, Muslims are taught to increase in good deeds. For some of us, that will mean fasting. For some, more prayer. For some, more Qur’an. For some, service to family and neighbors. And for many of us, I pray it will mean giving generously to the orphans of Gaza.
If you are not Muslim, please know this: you are welcome in this work. You do not have to share my faith to share this mercy. You do not have to know the details of Dhul Hijjah to know that children who have lost their parents, homes, schools, and safety deserve people with soft hearts to stand beside them.
Tonight, I am asking us to cross $60,000.
Then I am asking us to push toward $100,000.
Then we keep going until this school is fully funded.
🏫 Please donate today and help us build this school for Gaza’s orphans
After you give, please forward this email to 3 people who care about Gaza, children, education, mercy, and justice. Tell them the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah have begun, we are $4,048 away from $60,000, and every donation helps us get closer to building this school.
May Allah accept it from every person who gives, shares, prays, and helps carry this work forward.
Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun
