It has been seven days since the World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian aid workers were killed. Their team were travelling in three cars – two of them armoured. They were part of a convoy delivering more than 100 tonnes of food supplies from a recently constructed pier to a warehouse in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) hit the vehicles with missiles – resulting in seven people dying.
“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore.
Wonderbag is working with WCK who is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. The Wonderbag Foundation wishes to honour these fallen heroes who lost their lives during the Gaza conflict. “We stand side by side with ALL people caught in this war, which will have no winner. Our brave WCK colleagues died senselessly whilst trying to help feed other human beings caught in conflict and war against Palestine. I only knew two of the seven fallen heroes personally. Thank you Damien and Zomi for being such great champions of humanitarian aid. You were boots on the ground with no talk – just action. You will forever be in our memories and in the good work carried out. Today I stand firmly with all people who look to provide support to the most vulnerable communities across the world. Whether it’s Syria, South Sudan, DRC, Ukraine or Gaza in the Middle East – we will continue our founding mission statement, ‘to help people who need it the most’,” says Sarah Collins, CEO and Founder of Wonderbag.
Seven days later, the Wonderbag team, along with their partners are honouring the memory of the fallen WCKheroes through a new shelter being built in Rafah, Gaza. It has been named in honour of WCK Relief Lead – ‘Zomi’, Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, who died in Gaza at the age of 43.