“Li Beirut” is a charitable initiative launched by Vitas Lebanon to provide support to the victims of the August 2020 explosion, with the aim of restoring hope and restoring Beirut. Vitas Lebanon is a longstanding provider of microfinance services to under-privileged and vulnerable segments of the Lebanese population, particularly women, youth, and rural areas, and is committed to its role within this community as a catalyst of positive long-lasting change.

The Beirut explosion caused damage of epic proportions and it could not have come at a more critical time, as Lebanon is suffering from an all-time severe economic crisis, amplified further by the repercussions of the COVID pandemic on the collapsing economy.

Renewing its unwavering commitment to the local community, Vitas Lebanon created “Li Beirut” few days after the disastrous tragedy, on the 10th of August, as a fundraising mechanism to support those affected by the explosion. The aim is to provide relief to the victims and restore their dwellings to a basic form of habitability, reducing the number of homeless and displaced.

Committing its infrastructure and expertise to the service and support of the victims of the August explosion, Vitas took several actions to achieve its purpose. First step was dedicating a large number of field staff members to form a team that can carry on several significant tasks, such as reaching out and contacting victims to gather key information about them, the damages, needs and repairs. Alongside of that, Vitas created a web page to communicate all the details of “Li Beirut”, as well as accept donations to a dedicated money account. In addition, several social media ad campaigns were launched, in order to increase awareness and outreach the largest number of people possible to support the initiative.

After all the above steps were successfully completed, “Li Beirut” team was finally ready to provide financial aid from the donations gathered to selected beneficiaries, based on an elaborate selection process that ensures the most vulnerable and affected benefit first. This final phase of the initiative, marks to be the reward of all the efforts made.

 “Seeing the spark of hope in their tearful eyes, was everything! What happened to them, could have happened to anyone of us. This whole initiative, is a true testament for tangible unity and hope for Lebanon!” – Anonymous volunteer.

 

To conclude, Vitas is firmly convinced it has an active and leading role to play within affected communities, to help them overcome the hardship and challenges the coming period of time will impose. However, true change is a product of solidarity, which is why, only together we can gather the shattered pieces of our beloved Beirut and bring it back to life.