Weekly Report: Jul 22- 28

Projects for the Week

Current Finances Snapshot

With the funds we currently have and those in transit, we can only sustain our operations for approximately 10 more days at the current cost estimates. This underscores the urgent need for continued support.

We experienced multiple setbacks this week. Like most people working in the mutual aid space for Palestine, we encounter unexpected, lengthy verification processes and fund approvals. Most of our funds are currently locked up in bank verification processes.

On July 29th, Stripe, our payment processor for Donorbox, unexpectedly closed our account without reason or discussion and will refund ~$5000 of pending donations. The only reason they stated was that we “exceeded their present risk tolerance as determined by a combination of pertinent factors. As outlined in “Section A: General Terms”, subsection 10(a) “Termination”, Stripe may, “...close your Stripe Account at any time for any reason...by providing you Notice.” It turns out that wanting to feed those experiencing genocide is too high a risk for Stripe. We condemn these harmful business practices. The impact of this decision is that thousands are at risk of not eating. $5000 is enough to run three kitchens for a day to feed about 2100 people.

To accommodate this sudden closure, we have switched our website to a different payment processor. Unfortunately, we are still awaiting approval of verification and the release of funds. Once that is complete, $17k worth of donations will be released. The final 20k stuck in verification is in the Revolut app, which we had been using to transfer funds. Since this verification process started, we switched to wire transfer, which takes longer for the funds to arrive. At the moment, $20k is moving through the wire transfer process.

We are deeply grateful to our community for their unwavering support. Despite the recent challenges, we were able to raise $21k this past weekend. This is a testament to the strength of our community. We urge you to continue donating via PayPal or Venmo, as it provides the fastest and most direct access to the funds we need.