The basement of the Universalist National Memorial Church was filled with a diverse audience from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia -- people of different ages, races, religions, and political parties. But UPA's Executive Director, Samer Badawi, reminded them that "tonight, we are all Palestinians," and urged them to transcend their differences for this very human issue.

Michele Tingling-Clemmons, Bureau Chief for the D.C. Department of Health's Nutrition and Physical Fitness Bureau and a decades-long advocate for the hungry in Washington, described how hunger was a product of poverty and drew parallels between hunger in D.C. and in Palestine.

Melinda Borne, Director of Programs at UPA, described the situation in Gaza with all its grim statistics, echoing Michele's description of an artificially created problem. She then explained the multi-pronged approach UPA uses to address the problem of hunger, including in-kind food aid, employing farmers to grow food for their fellow Palestinians, and projects to create local, sustainable collectives on the ground.

Arthur "Marti" Martinson, a member of the church, told how he was driven by a sense of moral responsibility to help the Palestinians, and then described how sponsoring a child in Gaza through UPA had changed his life.

The audience did come together, and "dared to care" about Palestine, with one student pulling his last 35 cents out of his pockets for Gaza, and a disabled woman standing up to ask how she could help despite relying on SSI for her income. In all, they gave over $2,000 in a show of solidarity, with many committing to volunteer time in the future.

The night was a great success, starting with a traditional home-made Palestinian dinner and ending with traditional Palestinian music by Fuad Foty and his daughter Nadine. Nearly seven-hundred dollars was donated to the local food bank, Food for All.

Special Thanks to Perry King of the Universalist National Memorial Church for all his work in organizing this event and ensuring smooth logistics.