Gaza 5K: How to Organize a Charity Run or Walk for Gaza Relief

A Gaza 5K is a 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run or walk held to raise money for humanitarian relief in Gaza. The best-known events with that name are organized by UNRWA USA, but anyone can organize a 5K of their own for a Gaza charity, and this guide explains how.

A 5K suits fundraising because almost anyone can take part. Most people can walk the distance in about an hour, so children, grandparents and people who have never run can join in alongside club runners.

Is the Gaza 5K a specific event?

Yes, in one sense. The Gaza 5K is the name of a walk/run series organized by UNRWA USA, a US nonprofit, since 2012. According to its event pages, the 2026 series included events in the San Francisco Bay Area on September 13 and in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, on October 11, raising funds for UNRWA mental health counselors working with children in Gaza. Details are at gaza5k.org.

Fight for Palestine does not run that series and is not connected to it. What follows is about organizing your own community 5K for Gaza relief. If you do, give it its own name, such as a 5K for Gaza or a neighborhood solidarity run, so that nobody mistakes it for the UNRWA USA event.

Choose a format: in person, virtual or both

The format decides how much organizing you take on, so settle it first.

• A sponsored group run or walk: a few dozen people cover 5K together in a park or on a track, each collecting sponsorship from friends and family. This is the simplest version and needs the least paperwork.
• An organized public event: open registration, an entry fee, a marked course and a start and finish line. It raises more and reaches more people, and it needs permits, insurance, volunteers and months of planning.
• A virtual 5K: people sign up, run or walk the distance wherever they live during a set week, and share a photo or a tracked route. It has no venue costs and lets relatives in other cities take part.
• A hybrid: one in-person gathering with a virtual option for everyone who cannot travel.

Permits, insurance and local rules

Rules differ from city to city and country to country, so treat this as a list of questions to ask, not legal advice. Check with your own local authority before you announce a date.

Parks, trails and roads usually belong to someone who decides whether an event can use them. In its Safe Event Guidelines, the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) tells organizers to contact the relevant agencies early, such as the police and the parks department, and to obtain any required authorization long before the event date. It suggests starting to plan six to twelve months ahead for a public race.

Ask the venue whether it requires liability insurance; the RRCA notes that organizers may need proof of insurance before they can submit a permit application. Have every participant sign a waiver and give an emergency contact when they register. If you are collecting money from the public, also ask whether your area has rules on charitable collections, and say clearly on every page and poster which charity the money is going to.

Set up the fundraising

Decide where the money goes before you ask for any. Pick one charity, check it using the steps in our guide on how to donate to Gaza safely, and tell that charity what you are planning.

If you are fundraising for Fight for Palestine, start on our fundraise page. Email the team or use the contact form with your idea, even a rough one. We confirm the details, answer questions and send a fundraising kit with logos, posters, social media templates, a sponsorship form and campaign copy, and someone from the team stays in touch while you plan and promote the event.

Then set a target and make it concrete. A sponsorship form or page should say who is running, how far, when, what the target is and what the money is for. Keep a simple record of every pledge and payment from the first day; it makes the handover easy and lets you answer any question a supporter asks.

A peaceful run to stand in solidarity

Most people who join a Gaza 5K want to do something practical and to stand in solidarity with families living through the crisis. Say plainly from the start what kind of event it is: a peaceful run, humanitarian in purpose, open to anyone who wants to help civilians.

That clarity helps in practice. Venues and local authorities are more comfortable granting permission, schools and workplaces can share the event, and families with children know what to expect. Put it in the event description, brief your volunteers on it, and keep signs and speeches about the people you are raising money for. Sharing food at the finish, a short talk about where the funds go, or a minute of silence all fit that tone.

Promote it

Start with people who already gather: mosques, churches, student societies, running clubs, workplaces and school parent groups. One person in each who agrees to bring a team is worth more than a hundred flyers.

• Make one clear page or post with the date, start time, meeting point, distance, cost and how to sponsor someone, and link to it everywhere.
• Ask runners to share their own reason for taking part; personal messages raise more than general appeals.
• Post updates as the total grows, and thank sponsors by name where they are happy with that.
• Tell local newspapers, radio and community newsletters two to three weeks ahead.
• Use accurate, sourced information about Gaza. Our page on Gaza humanitarian aid is a starting point.

Keep everyone safe on the day

Safety is the organizer's main job. The RRCA guidelines are written for races of every size, and the basics apply even to a small sponsored walk.

• Choose a course away from traffic where you can: a park loop, a track or a closed path. Avoid narrow starts, sharp turns and busy crossings.
• Where a course meets a road, the RRCA says police should manage major intersections, with adult volunteers in safety vests at minor ones. Children and teenagers should not act as course marshals without adult supervision.
• Provide water at the start, the finish and at least one point on the course, and more in hot weather.
• Have first aid on site, know where the nearest hospital is and make sure volunteers can reach each other by phone.
• Watch the forecast and be ready to postpone for heat, storms or lightning.
• Station someone at the back of the field so that nobody finishes alone.

Running a wider giving campaign

A 5K works well as the centerpiece of a longer giving campaign. Open the fundraising page a month before the run, set weekly milestones, and keep it open for a week or two afterwards while photos and thank-you messages are going round, since that is when many sponsors actually pay.

You can add smaller activities around the run: a bake sale at registration, a matched-giving pledge from a local business, or a school non-uniform day. Our fundraise page lists more ideas, and how to help Gaza without money covers ways people can contribute time and skills if they cannot give.

Hand over the funds and report back

Collect pledges promptly, count cash with two people present, and send the total to the charity as soon as you can. If the money is for Fight for Palestine, ask the team how to send it in when you first get in touch. Gifts to us are made through the donate page, and our guide to donating crypto to Gaza explains how that works. After a fundraiser we send a report you can share with supporters showing what the total went toward.

Close the loop with everyone who took part: the final amount, where it went and a thank you. Fight for Palestine funds food parcels and hot meals, clean water, medical aid, shelter and winter items, and education and child support in Gaza through local partner teams, so a morning's run in your neighborhood becomes practical help for families there.