Dear Kalei friends,

Thank you for your messages and heartwarming words of support at a time when everyone's heart is broken.

Our team is still alive. Are we okay? We cannot possibly be. We're glad to be among those who can say 'we made it out in one piece' but there's no silver lining to all of this. When everything you worked so hard to build and keep from metaphorically collapsing to the ground, actually does just that in every sense of the word in the blink of an eye... When you see the faces of those you love, or customers you've grown to care about terrorized, covered in glass and blood... You cannot possibly see anything half full even if you realise you should be thankful that whomever is at least alive.

The thought of rebuilding is definitely not our first instinct, because we reject the idea that our people should continue to accept to be called 'resilient' at the price of starting over and over again this way. What happened to our city has broken everyone's hearts like they've never been broken before. And no repairs can fix that.

Many of you have sent us incredibly thoughtful messages in the last few days offering financial help, which we have greatly appreciated. And so until we and the entire city decide what's next, you have encouraged us to start a fund to which people can make a contribution to rebuilding Kalei Mar Mikhael with anything additional going to the the Lebanese Red Cross. The damage is considerable but was assessed as doable after the hard work our team put in the following days to clean up the rubble. We will be posting regular updates of the works and our spendings as we move forward.

Until we're able to see you again, know that we feel your pain, and our collective tears for our beloved city can never dry.

Love,
The team at Kalei

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At initial glance, work needed includes but is not limited to the following:

- Whole glass facade and metal work for the entrance porch
- All windows glass replacement & frames
- 4 doors maintenance & replacement
- Green coffee storage
- All false ceiling replacement
- Broken furniture replacement
- Coffee equipment fixing / replacement (at least one Mythos 1 grinder was broken)
- Electrical work and lighting fixtures replacement