Hello Everyone,

Daniel here, and I’m reaching out with a request to help my family.

As many of you know, my dad is from Lebanon, and my family from a small, rural, Christian, farming community. Our village, Alma El Chaab, is a stunningly beautiful place with rolling hills, fertile valleys, ancient olive trees, and farmland that has been tended to by my family for generations… It’s a community of faith, family, and fellowship that has been in recorded history for hundreds of years.

But nearing two years ago, our picturesque community was subject to unimaginable violence, as the horrors of war caught our village in the crossfire. Bombardments, the use of chemical weapons, military occupation, and the destruction of so many loved one's homes displaced my family and everyone in our village for over 18 months.

There are too many responsible for this across multiple countries, political bodies, industries, institutions, tribes, and peoples that enables such a complex web of violence… But what is not complex is that the lives of innocent families, including my own, have been destroyed.

And so I’m launching a GoFundMe campaign to try, in some small way, help my family with the rebuilding of their lives... At this point, my plan is to distribute whatever we can raise amongst select uncles, aunts, and cousins who are in the process of repairing or rebuilding their homes. Due to the economic situation in Lebanon, I have set my cousin Naaman, who is based in Canada as the "beneficiary" of this GoFundMe campaign. Naaman will work with our cousin Richard who lives in Lebanon to remit the funds to our family. Richard will also help oversee the construction efforts and work directly on our behalf with any suppliers, vendors, tradespeople, and contractors we engage to help with reconstruction efforts.

One of the most involved efforts will be the repair of my family’s 100+ year old stone house that my father was born and raised in along with all my aunts and uncles. If there are any surplus funds left, I will connect with our village’s municipality (the equivalent of our city council) to offer any remaining funds towards the repair of public infrastructure such as roads, electricity, and other utilities.

At such a critical time, every donation helps. No matter how small, every dollar can help. If you don’t have the capacity to make a donation, your sharing about my efforts is a huge help within itself.

As someone who’s spent his career thus far working to raise money for nutritionally vulnerable mothers and children around the world, I’m now trying to use my experience in this space to help my own family.

I would be endlessly grateful if you can be a part of that.

With love and gratitude,

Daniel