An Opportunity for a Better Future

At the end of April, a 747 airplane took off from a runway in Chicago. What makes this flight different from all the others? Why is this one so special?

The plane flew to  an undisclosed location in the Middle East and the aid is now making its way into Syria.

The plane contains much needed aid for persecuted minority communities, including Christians, Yezidis, and Kurds, in northeast Syria.      

Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime and the expansion of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Syria remains socially volatile. This instability poses a grave danger to Syria's ethnic and religious minorities. 

Militias affiliated with HTS have increasingly subjected religious and ethnic minorities across Syria to unprovoked killings, rape, and abductions. Hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes. 

The situation tragically worsened in March 2025 when HTS massacred over 1000 Alawite civilians, including women and children and again in April when the Druze minority was attacked in the south of Syria.

With support from generous donors, Shai Fund filled a plane with food and medical supplies to assist persecuted minority communities. The aid in the plane will: 

• Equip surgeons with over $1.3 million in critical surgical instruments, sterile sutures, and operating room supplies—empowering hospitals to perform life saving surgeries every day.
• Support frontline medical teams with over $280,000 worth of essential equipment, enabling care for thousands of patients.
• Prevent disease outbreaks with protective gear, safeguarding healthcare workers and vulnerable families.
• Provide nutrition to families facing hunger with 30 metric tons of fortified rice-soy food packages, covering over 300,000 meals.
• Address oral health needs to prevent secondary infections and restore quality of life for children and adults.

The plane has landed in Iraq and everything is on its way to northeast Syria as we speak. 

Stay tuned for exciting updates once these communities receive the aid.

This shipment is more than numbers or specific material. It’s about hope.

Our name, Shai, means Gift.

You are  saving lives, restoring dignity, and strengthening resilience for communities facing war, displacement, and collapsing health care.

This airlift is a testament to the power of collective action and the profound difference we can make in the lives of those most vulnerable. We hear these stories every day and cannot wait to share with you how this airlift empowers persecuted people to lift themselves up once again in hope.

We invite you to pray, fast, and/or morally support the distribution of this airlift aid in the coming days and even now across Syria by sharing this message with your own communities.

And while this airlift is supremely urgent today, it is part of a longer-term effort to build healthcare capacity and community recovery with religious freedom for all in northeast Syria.

Your partnership is not just delivering supplies; it is delivering hope, health, and a chance for a better future.