Empower Lebanon

03/31/2022

Working with Lebanese Food Bank , the Muslim Scouts, and local NGOs Fakker Bi Gheyrak and Ourjouwan Al Ijtimaaya, last week we distributed 22kg food parcels to 350 families in Tripoli, one of Lebanon's poorest cities.

Empower Lebanon's March 2022 food distribution in Tripoli, with local NGOs Fakker Bi Gheyrak and Ourjouwan Al Ijtimaaya, and supported by Lebanese Food Bank...

03/31/2022

Empower Lebanon's Joseph Adib Khalil was in Lebanon last week to support 350 families in Tripoli. What he found was the country facing it's most dire circumstances yet.

"The rich became poor and those already poor are starving to death," one man said.

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I’ve just returned from a mission to Lebanon. What I have to report is the most dire situation I have ever seen the country face. The world has been focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But countries like Lebanon are being engulfed in the fallout of that war. Before the war, over 80% of Leba...

01/15/2022

Over the last few months, Empower Lebanon and Lebanese Food Bank have teamed up to support more than 850 families from across Lebanon.

This work is not possible without the generous support of donors. Thank you!

01/11/2022

We've almost reached EL Board President Zack Bazzi's goal of raising $10,000! Consider donating today to bring us to the goal of raising funds to support orphaned children in Lebanon.

A generous donor has agreed to match up to $2,500 donations for this initiative - make your contribution count double by donating today!

http://bit.ly/EL-donate

01/09/2022

Last month, Empower Lebanon teamed up with Lebanese Food Bank to bring food assistance packages to 200 families in Aachiyeh and Jezzine.

It's hard to exaggerate the severity of the situation in Lebanon. The currency has collapsed, inflation is soaring, unemployment is through the roof, most families can't put decent food on the table, and medicine, electricity, and fuel are scarce.

Food distribution like these are helping families across Lebanon weather unprecedented difficulties.

Consider donating today to support these efforts: http://bit.ly/EL-donate

12/30/2021

With Lebanon facing down numerous compounding crises, Empower Lebanon's Zack Bazzi announces $10,000 fundraising goal and pledges to personally match the first $1,000 donations to support critical 2022 operations.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE LEBANESE PEOPLE -

For a long time, I have devoted myself to the aid and stability grind in the Middle East—work I firmly believe enhances America's reputation in a troubled yet fascinating part of the world. Over the last year, I have dedicated some of my energy to Empower Lebanon , founded by my friend Joe Khalil

10/26/2021

“We have no government, no services, no electricity, no currency, no hope,” says Safa, who did not wish to use her full name. “Who can we even turn to?”

It is a question being faced by many Lebanese: What happens when a state fails, and no one is there to help?

Amid government dysfunction, Lebanon has become unrecognizable to its own people. To provide for their most basic needs, they must rely on each other.

10/15/2021

The World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that food prices have gone up by 628 percent in just two years, compounding Lebanon’s economic meltdown, which has plunged three-quarters of its population into poverty and devalued the Lebanese pound by about 90 percent.

Families skip meals and forgo staples as Lebanon’s paralysing fuel crisis causes food prices to skyrocket.

10/13/2021

Walking through the capital Beirut — a once-thriving city often called the “Paris of the Middle East” — at any time of day, one can see shopfronts closed or operating in darkness, with those lucky enough to have access to fuel relying on backup generators to keep the lights on. When the power is out, many shopkeepers will refuse to sell anything but water, as the volatile minute-by-minute changes in the value of the Lebanese lira mean the price of goods can shift from one period of power to the next.

The crisis is creating a nightmare for the country's residents, but has been a long time in the making.

09/30/2021

Since 2019, Lebanon's financial meltdown, one on the planet's worst since the 1850s, has decimated the country's middle class.

Entire families have seen their savings all but vanish and salaries dwindle to barely a tenth of their previous dollar values.

The UN says poverty now affects more than three quarters of the population.

Lebanon's 'new poor' pull children out of private school

09/29/2021

Many hospitals across Lebanon have turned off lights and air conditioners in corridors and administrative areas to save on fuel for generators for operating rooms and patient wards.

With colleagues unable to get to work due to the fuel shortages, 10-15 percent of staff are absent from each shift, and Mawla finds herself caring for three times as many patients as she used to. She looks tired as she flips through patient notes.

As the economic crisis grinds on, Lebanese navigate soaring food costs and fuel and medicine shortages.