Zad & Zawada: Rebuilding a Palestinian Kitchen, Restoring Livelihoods, and Keeping Hope Alive

**Help us raise $10,000 to restart our kitchen in northern Gaza and bring four former team members back to work.**

## Our Story Was Never Just About Food

In northern Gaza, Zad & Zawada was more than a Palestinian restaurant and kitchen. It was a dream built through hard work, dedication, and a deep love for our culinary heritage.

Our kitchen celebrated the authentic flavors of Palestine, preserving traditional recipes and sharing the warmth, culture, and identity passed down through generations.

Behind every meal were people working with pride, skills developed through experience, and families depending on the income their work provided. Our restaurant was not simply a place where food was prepared; it was a source of livelihood, dignity, and hope.

We once had a team of eight dedicated people, united by a shared dream and a commitment to bringing authentic Palestinian food to our community.

## When Our Restaurant Was Destroyed, Our Story Did Not End

The war brought devastating changes to Gaza. Our restaurant in northern Gaza was destroyed, taking away the workplace we had built and the equipment we depended on to operate.

Along with the loss of our restaurant, our team lost its source of income. For three years, our workers have been unable to continue their work through our business, leaving them and their families facing prolonged uncertainty and hardship.

Behind these numbers are real people: people with skills, experience, responsibilities, and a desire to earn a living through their own work.

The destruction of our kitchen was a devastating setback, but it did not erase our experience, our Palestinian identity, or our determination to begin again.

**Our restaurant was destroyed, but our dream survived.**

## Today, We Choose to Begin Again

Today, we are taking the first steps toward bringing Zad & Zawada back to life.

Our immediate goal is to raise **$10,000** to restore the essential equipment, supplies, and operational capacity needed to restart our kitchen.

With your support, we aim to bring **four of our former team members back to work**, creating an initial path toward restoring livelihoods and helping support their families.

We know that rebuilding takes time. Rather than promising to restore everything at once, we are choosing a practical first step: restarting our kitchen on a manageable scale, returning people to work, and building toward a more sustainable future.

Our vision is to gradually grow the business, create opportunities for our team, and allow the kitchen to support its operations through the income it generates.

We are not simply trying to reopen a restaurant. We are working to restore a source of livelihood, preserve a piece of Palestinian heritage, and give our team the opportunity to rebuild their future through meaningful work.

## How We Will Use Your Support

Our fundraising goal is **$10,000**. Every contribution will help us move closer to reopening our kitchen and restoring employment.

Our preliminary budget is as follows:

**1. Kitchen Equipment and Tools — $4,000**

To acquire essential cooking equipment, utensils, and tools needed to resume food preparation and bring our kitchen back into operation.

**2. Initial Ingredients and Supplies — $2,000**

To purchase food ingredients, packaging, and essential kitchen supplies required to begin preparing and serving authentic Palestinian dishes.

**3. Basic Repairs and Kitchen Setup — $1,000**

To prepare the available workspace and complete essential repairs and setup needed to resume operations.

**4. Initial Operating Expenses — $2,000**

To cover essential startup costs, including utilities, transportation, and other operational needs during the initial reopening period.

**5. Restarting Employment — $1,000**

To support the initial transition back to work for four former team members, subject to actual operating costs and the timing of reopening.

### Total Fundraising Goal: $10,000

This is a preliminary budget based on our current recovery priorities. Actual costs and allocations may change according to local prices, equipment availability, and the practical requirements of restarting operations.

We are committed to using contributions responsibly and keeping our supporters informed about our progress.

## What Your Contribution Can Make Possible

Your support can help us take meaningful steps toward:

- **Restarting our kitchen:** Restoring the essential capacity needed to prepare and serve Palestinian food.

- **Bringing four people back to work:** Creating an initial opportunity for former team members to return to employment after three years without work through our business.

- **Supporting families:** Helping workers regain an income and work toward greater stability for their households.

- **Preserving Palestinian culinary heritage:** Keeping traditional recipes, flavors, and food culture alive.

- **Building a sustainable future:** Developing a business that can increasingly support its own operating costs through food sales.

Every contribution, whatever its size, brings us closer to reopening our kitchen. Sharing our campaign can also help us reach individuals, organizations, and partners who may be able to support our efforts.

## Why Your Support Matters

A contribution to Zad & Zawada is more than support for a restaurant.

It is an investment in people's ability to work, support their families, and rebuild their livelihoods with dignity. It is an opportunity to help a small Palestinian business recover after devastating loss and to preserve the culinary traditions that connect us to our homeland and our identity.

We cannot rebuild everything overnight, and we do not expect to do it alone. But we believe that meaningful recovery can begin with one kitchen, one team, and one opportunity at a time.

With your support, a destroyed workplace can become a renewed source of livelihood. A kitchen that once stood silent can begin preparing food again. And people who have endured years without work can take their first steps toward a more hopeful future.

## Be Part of Our New Beginning

To everyone who believes in human dignity, the value of work, cultural heritage, and the power of community, we invite you to stand with us.

Help us raise **$10,000**.

Help us restart our kitchen.

Help us bring four former team members back to work and take the first steps toward supporting their families again.

Your donation, your encouragement, and your willingness to share our story can help turn this dream into a practical plan for recovery.

We are not starting with nothing. We carry our experience, our recipes, our identity, and our determination with us.

**Our roots remain. Our passion remains. And our story continues.**

### Zad & Zawada

**Authentic Palestinian Food. Human Dignity. Hope for Tomorrow.**

From northern Gaza, we are ready to begin again.

**Help us rebuild our kitchen, restore livelihoods, and keep Palestinian culinary heritage alive. Together, we can take the first step.** 🇵🇸