Hi everyone,

If you don't know me, I am Adnan, a Lebanese person living in New York for over a decade. My brother, who lives in Beirut, started Ma3 Ba3ed ("together" in Arabic) with his group of friends — a grassroots initiative dedicated to distributing emergency relief to the roughly 800,000 people forcibly displaced by Israel's attacks and mass evacuation orders across Lebanon, a number that has been rising dramatically by the day according to the UNHCR.

The situation on the ground is dire. My brother describes it as the worst he has ever lived through. The Dahyeh suburb of Beirut, a dense urban center, is unrecognizable after heavy bombing. People are exhausted, forced to leave their homes and survive indefinitely in schools and warehouses turned makeshift shelters.

Ma3 Ba3ed is a group of young people doing it all themselves: assessing needs on the ground, sourcing and negotiating with suppliers, purchasing, hauling, and distributing supplies directly to those in need all while managing their finances, establishing a social media presence, and coordinating across an expanding network. What is remarkable is how fast they move: in just one week, they have already completed a full wave of purchasing and distribution, getting critical supplies to people who need them immediately.

Their mission: "Ensuring our people's dignity during this war on Lebanon is the duty of all of us. Let's do what we can."

As donating directly to Lebanon on an individual level is complicated, I will be transferring all raised funds to the team myself. You can trust that your donation will quickly reach the people who need it most.

What has already been made possible:

With their first wave of local fundraising, Ma3 Ba3ed purchased and distributed across shelters in Beirut and the neighboring Chouf region:

- 640 mattresses

- 600 single-ply and 250 double-ply blankets, as temperatures drop with the cold season

- 15 washing machines across 9 shelters

What's next:

-A second wave will expand their reach with hygiene kits, more mattresses, blankets, and washing machines for additional shelters

-Extending support to people forced to live on the streets as shelters are far beyond capacity

-Ma3 Ba3ed is also directing funds towards existing community kitchens in their network.

Lebanon has endured an extraordinary series of overlapping crises over the past seven years: economic collapse, the devastating 2020 Beirut port explosion, political instability, and a string bombing campaigns—all in a tiny country that already hosts the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, as international support continues to dwindle.

I'm reaching out to my network in New York and beyond to help support Ma3 Ba3ed's mission and relief efforts. Please donate what you can, and share this widely on and offline.

For direct updates from the initiative, follow them on Instagram @ma3ba3ed

Thank you so much for your support. It means very much to me personally and even more to the suffering people you will be helping.