💔 Thousands of people unsubscribe when I push so hard for Gaza. Let me explain why I do it anyway. And always will.

I wish one email could fund this. It can’t. So I’m going to keep asking until Gaza’s orphans have this school. We are $5,776 away from $50,000 and $15,776 away from the pace we truly need to be on!

As-Salaam-Alaikum and good afternoon from New Jersey on a very sunny day.

I want to tell you something I don’t always say this directly.

Every time I do a major fundraising campaign for Gaza, it kills my email list. I don’t mean that as a metaphor. I mean it literally. Thousands of people unsubscribe. Paid subscribers leave. Open rates drop. People get tired of hearing from me. Some get annoyed that I am sending fundraiser after fundraiser instead of just writing articles. And every single time it happens, it sets me back professionally in a way that can take months, and sometimes years, to rebuild.

I know all of that before I ever send the first email.

And I send them anyway.

Because for me, the question is painfully simple: what matters more — that hundreds of orphaned children in Gaza finally get to go back to school, or that I protect a growing email list of people who love my articles?

I wish I could have both. I truly do. But if I have to choose, I choose the orphans. Every single time.

Please donate now to help us build this school for Gaza’s orphans

Right now, 348 supporters have raised $44,224 toward our full $250,000 goal. That is real progress, and I am grateful for every single person who has given, but we are behind the pace we need to keep if we are going to get the funds to our team in Gaza by next month so they can begin construction.

Today, we absolutely need to surpass $50,000.

That means we need $5,776 more just to cross that next line.

And to be fully honest with you, what we really need is to push past $60,000, which means raising $15,776 from where we are right now. That would put us back on a stronger pace and give our team on the ground in Gaza the confidence that this community is still moving with urgency.

Donate here and help us get past $50,000!

I wish I only had to send one email about this school. I wish one perfect message could fully fund the whole project. But that is not how this work goes. So far, it has taken me about 12 emails to raise what we have raised, and if it takes 100 emails to fully fund this school, then I am going to send 100 emails.

That may sound extreme, but what is the alternative? That I stop because some people unsubscribe? That I slow down because my list gets weaker? That I protect my platform while children in Gaza remain without classrooms, teachers, desks, books, a courtyard, counselling support, and a safe place to learn?

I cannot do that.

These children and the people preparing to serve them are counting on us. Our team on the ground in Gaza sees what we are doing. They believe we can raise this full amount. They are planning with hope now, and hope is not something I am willing to casually take away from them because fundraising emails are inconvenient.

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, and sit safely in a classroom with a teacher who knows their name. Instead, many of them have spent the past two years surrounded by displacement, hunger, grief, fear, and the loss of family.

A school will not erase what has been done to them, but it can give them something real that they desperately need: structure, safety, learning, play, counselling, routine, and adults who are invested in their future.

Give your Zakat, sadaqah, or tax-deductible donation now

The proposed school will include:

• 6 fully equipped classrooms

• Space for approximately 270 children

• Around 45 students per classroom

• 6 washrooms, each with its own separate exterior entrance

• An administrative office, teachers’ room, and dedicated counsellor’s space

• Solar power support and electrical infrastructure

• Secure perimeter fencing

• An outdoor artificial grass play area

This is not abstract. It is not symbolic. 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.

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 say this clearly again: I am a full-time employee of Human Concern International and have been for more than 2 years. I do not receive fees or compensation from this fundraiser. Not a penny.

What I do receive is the responsibility of knowing that when I push hard enough, when I email enough, when I ask enough, when I risk enough, people actually give. Food gets delivered. Medicine gets purchased. Families get helped. And now, insha’Allah, a school can be built.

That is worth the cost to me.

If my email list takes a hit, I can rebuild it later. If paid subscribers leave, I can try to earn them back later. If people get annoyed, I can live with that. But these children cannot get these years back. They cannot wait for the perfect moment. They cannot wait for me to feel comfortable asking again.

So I am asking again.

Please help us surpass $50,000 today. And if you can, help us push toward $60,000 so we are truly back on pace.

Donate now and help us build this school for Gaza’s orphans

We need every kind of donor right now. We need the person who can give $5 and refuses to sit this out. We need the person who can give $50 and forward this to friends. We need the donor who can give $500 or $1,000 and move the campaign forward today. And I am directly asking anyone who can give $5,000, $25,000, $100,000, or cover the entire remaining need to please step forward.

This must be done.

The schools were destroyed. The children were orphaned. The future was attacked. So we build. And if building this school costs me subscribers, reach, comfort, or convenience, then so be it.

I choose the orphans.

Please choose them with me today.

Donate now to help build a 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 we need to pass $50,000 today, and we are trying to push toward $60,000 to stay on track.

Love and appreciate each of you.

Your friend and brother,
Shaun