BEIT EL BARAKA USA

• Food security: $50 provides food for a family of 4 for one week
• Essential supplies: $30 provides hygiene essentials for a family of 4 for two weeks

The August 2020 explosion that rocked Beirut devasted, displaced and destroyed thousands of lives. As many as 500'000 people STILL need immediate assistance for things as basic as clothing, food and shelter. Your donation is urgently needed to help those suffering begin rebuilding their lives. Can you join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Beit El Baraka, an international non-profit organization that assists those affected by the blast in Beirut by providing them with food, housing and medical support. Any donation you provide will make a difference. 

Let me tell you a little about Beit El Baraka. Their mission is to help restore a sense of dignity to Lebanese families that have been deprived of their most basic needs and rights. For example, Beit El Baraka provides access to health care and assists a large number of Lebanese families who have been displaced, families who are in financial distress, children who are out of school, and retirees suffering from seclusion. Here is what your one-time donation could do:

·     $10 could cover a baby’s milk and diaper needs for a week. 

·     $50 could feed a family of four and provide it with hygiene products for a week. 

·     $300 could pay for a child’s school tuition for a year. 

·     $1,000 could rehabilitate a small business that was destroyed by the blast and help people return to work.

In the words of Beit El Baraka Founder, Maya Ibrahimchah: "Our major achievement remains our ability to keep our overhead at 2% of the total budget, proving how keen we are on optimizing every penny spent. That being said, our need to generate funds remains crucial to cater for the increasing number of families getting evicted from their homes and losing everything they had. The poverty crisis is rapidly turning into a humanitarian one, and we cannot overcome it without your help."

Thank you in advance for your contribution to this most worthy cause, which means so much to me but can mean the world to those devastated by the tragic Beirut blast. 

More information about BEIT EL BARAKA USA: Beit El Baraka is an NGO based in Lebanon with a partnership with Beit El Baraka USA, a registered 501(c)(3) organization (registration number 85-0879465). BEB's mission is to ensure a sense of dignity and assistance for people in need in Lebanon, especially after Beirut's massive explosion. All donations are tax-deductible.

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Website: https://www.beitelbaraka.org

For more on the work of Beit El Baraka

Lebanon is currently facing a devastating financial and economic collapse. There is no fuel, wifi, electricity, bread, milk or medication. There are four million people at risk!

My name is Dania Sinno Kibbi, and like many Lebanese expats, I feel helpless watching my country and people drown in despair in what the World Bank has called “one of the top 3, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century."

In the past year since the Beirut blast that killed hundreds and injured thousands, the deterioration of the situation has progressed at a horrifying pace. During my recent visit, I witnessed my country plunge into total darkness as fuel supplies ran dry and power companies gave up and closed their doors. Unable to operate, hospitals are closing by the day in the midst of a global pandemic. Medications are scarce and pharmacies have nothing left to dispense as the sick and elderly are suffering in pain and living in fear for how they will survive.

40% of the GDP has been cut, inflation is at an alarming 88% and the worst is to come. People no longer have access to their money in the banks and parents can no longer afford food for their children. The situation in Lebanon is dire: my fellow citizens are dying, suffering or fleeing to better opportunities abroad.

Please help me help Lebanon by making a donation to Beit el Baraka, a trusted and well established NGO that is making a big difference on the ground by providing food, medicine and shelter to 226,000+ people.

I am seeking your support to help feed, treat and house those impacted by this terrible tragedy.

$100 feeds a family of four for one month.

$70 shelters a family with rent for one month.

$30 treats a family with basic medical needs for a month.

$25 lights up a family’s home with generator electricity for one month.

My goal is to raise funds for a 100 families. Please help me make this happen. Any donation you make, no matter the size, will have an immediate impact. Your generosity means the world to me and to the people of Lebanon. THANK YOU!

Beit El Baraka is an NGO based in Lebanon and has a partnership with Beit El Baraka USA, a registered 501(c)3 organization. All donations are tax deductible.

Display illustration by Tony Maalouf

Friends old and new alike, for my 30th birthday this year, I am organizing a special party with friends. In light of the party, we hope to gather our community and organize with some collective power by raising money for an important cause. While there are so many important causes and organizations to support and we wish we could publicize and support them all, we call upon our communities and ourselves to act in solidarity with the people of Lebanon. Reaching into our pockets and donating whatever you can contribute to the decimated city's rebuild and support for the lives of those most in need. As many of you know, the catastrophic explosion in the port area of the Lebanese capital city, Beirut, on Tuesday, August 4th, 2020, led to more than 200 deaths, 5,000+ injured, and 300,000 displaced individuals. As a result of the explosion, the Port of Beirut is now completely decimated. The grain silos that hold 85% of the country's wheat supply have been wiped out, and homes and properties were destroyed within a 6-mile blast radius of the explosion. We are raising money to benefit BEIT EL BARAKA USA, and any donation will help make an impact. This organization works in several sectors including the following: free and accessible supermarkets, decent housing, medical support, agriculture, education, and blast relief.  Please consider that BEIT EL BARAKA USA: Beit El Baraka is designated as a US charitable organization. All donations are tax-deductible; your donations to the Rebuild Beirut Fund are eligible for 501c3 tax exemption. While many of us may be facing hardships of our own due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social injustices, I am asking you as friends and fellow humanitarians to act in solidarity with the Lebanese people by contributing what you can. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me. 

Why I Care: 

As some of you may know, Relief and Rebuild Beirut is a cause central to my identity and dear to my heart. As a multi-ethnic Lebanese-American, I have many family members whose homes and livelihoods are based there, which hits particularly close to home. Beyond my connection, this continues to be a national tragedy that deserves global attention and support. Lebanon is facing a humanitarian disaster on top of a pandemic and multiple intersecting crises ranging from economic and political to energy and public health crises. My dad grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, in the area that was impacted by the explosion. Before the explosion, his stories sweetly lingered in me. Of him swimming in the Mediterranean beaches after school on hot summer days or buying a coke-a-cola for 10 cents to compliment a falafel sandwich from the local street market he intimately knew. Or his grandmother yelling in Arabic at the top of her lungs from their high-rise apartment building for him and his brothers and sisters to come home for lunch as they played on the busy street below. My family and I hoped to one day visit these beaches he fondly speaks of, the streets he lovingly remembers, and the childhood home he longs to see again. Tragically, now those beaches are polluted with shattered glass and remnants of decimated homes from the explosion, the markets that smelled of falafel and shawarma are now filled with debris that smell of ash and smoke. Nothing is left of the home my dad grew up in but his memories. 

All we have are our memories and hope now. I hope to help build new memories and contribute to the resilience and solidarity that continues to sustain the country. One day stepping on the ground where the streets bustle with taxis and the land is fertile with the roots of new cedar trees. Markets smell of delicious food, buildings stand tall with a community of vibrant people singing and dancing through the night. The beaches receding with a beautiful shoreline and with every exquisite sunrise and sunset, the spirits of those who no longer live are remembered. And those who do live are eased of their pain and nurtured through endless hardship. 

 Please continue to spread awareness and share this fundraiser with others if you cannot donate at this time! I appreciate your time and consideration. 

More information about BEIT EL BARAKA USA: Beit El Baraka (https://beitelbaraka.org/) is an NGO based in Lebanon with a partnership with Beit El Baraka in Virginia, USA, a registered 501(c)3 organization. BEB's mission is to ensure a sense of dignity and assistance for people in need in Lebanon, especially after Beirut's massive explosion.

For photos of the aftermath, please visit: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/08/photos-aftermath-beirut-explosion/614968/