our vision
A healthy, thriving Palestinian society
where all can live in dignity.
what is the Gaza 5k?
The Gaza 5K is an annual family-friendly walk/run fundraiser hosted by UNRWA USA in different US cities to help Palestine refugee children and families in the Gaza Strip impacted by mental health.
The Gaza 5K is a 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) timed walk/run event. Once the run is over, the fun typically continues with a DJ-ed dabke dance party. Registrants are provided an online fundraising page that they can customize with their own stories and share with their friends and family to collect donations.
Your fundraising through both the virtual and in-person Gaza 5K events allows us to help empower vulnerable refugees in Gaza, especially children, to better cope with the extreme challenges they face daily.
Participation and fundraising allow us to employ mental health counselors, locally recruited from the Palestine refugee population, to provide psychosocial support to address the mental health needs of refugee children and families in the Gaza Strip who suffer from trauma due to repeated Israeli military assaults and the continued blockade.
Amid the outbreak of COVID-19, the Gaza 5K went virtual and became available nationwide.
how does it work?
our history
Created in 2012 by UNRWA USA, the Gaza 5K is a fundraising initiative supporting UNRWA’s Mental Health Programme. Proceeds help UNRWA counselors in the Gaza Strip deliver vital, school-based psychosocial support (PSS) to Palestine refugee children, making mental health care more accessible. Counselors assist children coping with trauma, conflict, and displacement through individual and group counseling, recreational activities such as drawing, sports, and storytelling, and by teaching coping strategies to manage stress and anxiety.
Today, the need for this support is more urgent than ever. Over 90 per cent of Gaza’s population—approximately 1.9 million people—has endured forced displacement, many multiple times, amid what experts know to be a genocide. More than one million children are estimated to be in need of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), with at least 17,000 unaccompanied or separated from their families. (Numbers from UNRWA, updated as of December 2025).
In 2026, UNRWA USA will host 4 walk/runs
all with virtual options:
Atlanta Gaza 5K: Saturday, February 14th (Shirley Clarke Franklin Park)
San Francisco Gaza 5K: Stay tuned for date and location
Dallas Gaza 5K: Stay tuned for date and location
New York City Gaza 5K: Stay tuned for date and location