"When I was able to send him the first £80 or so he was so thankful, he was able to buy his infant daughter medication."
Those are the words of York-born Felix Clayton McClure, who is raising money for two displaced families in war-torn Gaza.
The 21-year-old from South Bank was educated at both Millthorpe School and York College.
He is currently studying German and linguistics at the University of Oxford - where he discovered campaigns to raise money for victims of the war in the Middle East.
"In May, somebody who studies at the same university as me put a message in a group chat asking for help with one of these online campaigns, so I did," he said.
He ran an Instagram account with a fellow student, where he highlighted issues in the Middle-East and directed people to fundraisers.
"After a while someone asked me if I could host a fundraiser, as GoFundMe only supports certain countries."
He now runs two GoFundMe pages, one for the Hamad family, and the other for the Albous.
Felix was first contacted by Mira Hamad, the sister of Mohamed, who he communicates with via Google Translate, and sends the GoFundMe money to frequently.
The Hamad family consists of father Osama, mother Sabreen, and siblings Mira, Mohamed, Tala, Youssef and Salah. The children range from the eldest Mira, aged 18, to the youngest Salah, aged five.
The family has been displaced multiple times so far during the war, with the most recent move on August 18. They've moved from Beit Hanoun, to Rafah, and are now in Deir Al-Balah.
Felix said they're currently living in a tent - a situation he described as "incredibly difficult".
"He (Mohamed) is very positive, he’s always cracking jokes and I thought 'blimey', I’d wonder if I could handle that so well."
Money is frequently sent to the Hamad family from the GoFundMe page, however Felix said the family faces constant challenges.
He added: "It’s gotten really difficult because PayPal doesn’t offer service in Palestine.
"Recently I’ve been using cryptocurrency, but the fees are really high."
The other family Felix is trying to get money through to is the Albous.
Gehad, the father of three children: 22-month-old Abdou and nine-month-old Ella, who was born during wartime, is the recipient of money raised on a separate GoFundMe page.
Felix said their mother is malnourished, but still has to breastfeed Ella.
Gehad's other son - Qusay, nicknamed Ahmed, who is five - is trapped in the north of Gaza and has not seen his father since the war began.
"When I was able to send him the first £80 or so he was so thankful, he was able to buy his infant daughter medication and his family a meal with meat for the first time in a long time," said Felix.
Despite his efforts, Felix added: "I’m very limited in what I can do to help people, but I thought I’ve got to do something.
"The level of suffering which people seem to turn a blind eye to is really sad.
"You can make video content sharing people’s fundraisers.
"You can donate disposable income. Obviously, it’s not an easy time for any of us economically at the minute, but if you can justify a coffee you could justify donating a fiver every week or two.
"It’s easy to think we can’t make a meaningful difference, and we can’t change what’s going on or bring back those who have been killed, but we can do something."
His fundraiser for the Hamad family can be found here: www.gofundme.com/f/help-seventeenyearold-mohamed-and-his-family-escape-gaza.
And his fundraiser for the Albou family can be accessed here: www.gofundme.com/f/saving-the-albouu-family-from-the-horrors-of-g4za?attribution_id=sl:40da1098-27ef-4f53-868a-98ff910bc0f0&lang=en_GB&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link.
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