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BEIRUT, LEBANON, May 4, 2021 — Baitulmaal, a Dallas-based international humanitarian relief agency, recently delivered food staples to provide 2,211,060 meals to impoverished families living in Lebanon.
Around 8,570 families struggling with food insecurity were provided food packages in various parts of Lebanon including Beirut, Tripoli, Akkar, Al Beqaa valley and Saida city. The food packages contain items such as chickpeas, rice, pasta, sugar, flour, oil, canned goods and dates and were distributed for the Ramadan season, which is marked by fasting, charity and worship.
Over 2 million of the meals were donated by a group of activists who joined forces to fundraise for Lebanon. According to Abdallah Sheik, a Dearborn-based businessman and one of the organizers of Baitulmaal’s Lebanon Committee, the declining economic situation in Lebanon has plunged people into increasing levels of poverty.
“The value of money in Lebanon went down 90%,” said Sheik. “Let’s say the minimum wage in Lebanon is $700 a month…it becomes $70. What can you do with $70? Just imagine the agony. The people in Lebanon are hungry, and they are suffering.”
In a live-streamed fundraiser on April 25, 2021, activist and author Linda Sarsour echoed his concern and called on others to stand with the people of Lebanon in their time of need.
“The bottom line is the people of Lebanon are suffering,” Sarsour said. “The people of Lebanon deserve to live with dignity. They deserve to have basic necessities like food and like medication.”
Nine months ago today, Lebanon experienced one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. The blast, which occurred in a grain factory at the port of Beirut, killed 300, injured over 6,500, and left 300,000 homeless.
At the time, Lebanon was contending with a global pandemic during a time of political and economic turmoil. Since then, food and services have become unaffordable for a majority of Lebanon’s 6.8 million residents, where prices have risen by as much as 50% and unemployment has climbed to 35%. According to the U.N., 55% of Lebanese are now living in poverty — double the number from last year.
Lebanon is also host to refugees escaping violence in their home countries. There are nearly half a million Palestinian refugees and 1.5 million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon’s increasingly crowded camps with limited resources.
Baitulmaal was on the ground in Lebanon shortly after the blast, helping to clear debris, feed the hungry, and help the homeless. Since then, Baitulmaal has also sent $1.2 million in medical supplies and hard-to-find medications to Beirut hospitals, and began reconstructing homes and buildings.
Baitulmaal provides food, water, medicine, healthcare and other aid to people in Lebanon. If you would like to learn more or contribute to these programs at Baitulmaal, please visit their website at Baitulmaal.org or donate at help4lebanon.org.
Baitulmaal is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides life-saving, life-sustaining and life-enriching aid to people in need around the world. With headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the charity has offices in: Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Nairobi, Kenya; Mogadishu, Somalia; Amman and Al Ramtha, Jordan; and Karachi, Pakistan.
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???? Watch 4/25/2021 Lebanon Livestream with Linda Sarsour and Others Here ????
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